Dozens of lightning strike fires are burning across California. A warming climate could bring more, according to new study

As dozens of wildfires burn across California after a remarkable outbreak of dry lightning, a new study warns that a warming planet could bring more lightning-sparked wildfires to the West in the coming decades.

“These are the sort of events that can really allow the fire season to turn on a dime,” said John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced and an author of the study .

From early Tuesday into Wednesday morning, a lightning storm hurled thousands of bolts at the state, Cal Fire battalion chief David Acuña told CalMatters Wednesday. Forty-five new fires ignited within Cal Fire’s jurisdiction in that same time period, he said. Dry lightning strikes with little, if any, rainfall nearby.

“We can't collectively say they're all lightning fires, but we can say that there