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Fire and rain: West to get more one-two extreme climate hits

Climate Fire and Flood
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(AP) — A new study says the West is going to get more one-two punches of nasty wildfires followed by extreme rainfall as the world warms.

Friday's study says these combinations, which can lead to mudslides and flooding, will increase eight-fold in the Pacific Northwest and double in California by the year 2100 in a global warming worst-case emissions scenario.

Study authors say events like 2018's Montecito mudslide that killed 23 people, where heavy rains followed a Santa Barbara fire, will become a frequent occurrence.



It's due to changes from global warming in both rainy and fire seasons.