(AP) — The US West is getting hit with a triple whammy of record heat, megadrought and wildfires — and just a handful of numbers explains the how and why of this wild and deadly weather.
A potential all-time record or two may have been set in Death Valley. June was the hottest on record. And less than 1% of the West is not in drought or abnormally dry.
Summers in the West have warmed by 2.7 degrees in just 30 years. In 20 years the number of acres burned by wildfire has doubled on average.
Scientists say this is climate change in action.
