Campus Queries: What is the impact of wildfires on wildlife in California?

Glen MacDonald, a distinguished professor in the department of geography and the department of ecology and evolutionary biology, said wildfires are common during winter in California, but have been starting earlier and burning longer in the past few years, which can be linked to climate change.

H. Bradley Shaffer, a distinguished professor of the department of ecology and evolutionary biology, added while the intensity of the Woolsey fire doesn’t indicate climate change on its own, climate change is a contributing factor to the increasing frequency and duration of wildfires in California.