… The prelude to Southern California’s most destructive fires in recorded history was Earth’s hottest summer, and California’s hottest July, in the record books. … All of that heat has alarming implications for California’s wildfire risk — namely, drawing out the moisture from vegetation, according to a blog post by UCLA scientists on climate and weather factors leading up to the recent wildfires. … Another expected impact of climate change are increases in the dramatic dry-to-wet and wet-to-dry weather whiplash California faces. A separate study published in the journal Nature Reviews in January found that more episodes of “hydroclimate whiplash” are anticipated worldwide due to human-caused global warming.

Other fire and water news:

• Calaveras Enterprise (Calif.): Sierra Nevada Conservancy approves nearly $4.6 million in wildfire resilience grants