The consequences climate scientists have long been warning about are coming to fruition in the increased intensity of natural disasters around the globe, recently in the form of devastating wildfires that ravaged the western states and enshrouded areas not plagued with flames under hazes of smoke. 

“These are not unprecedented events,” Dr. Crystal Raymond, climate adaptation scientist, told ABC News. “Scientists know these types of fires burned in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but it’s the frequency at which they are now burning that has become a concern.”