As of Friday, the plague of wildfires in Los Angeles has consumed more than 20,000 acres, destroyed roughly 13,000 buildings, forced more than 180,000 evacuations and caused at least 11 deaths. Though this is one of the most destructive disasters in California history, some have wasted no time in leveraging the crisis to further an agenda.
In the midst of the ongoing crisis, President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters in right-wing media are spreading misinformation about the cause of the fires and how future disasters can be addressed in the future. Scientists who spoke to Salon emphasized two points: The fires are being exacerbated by climate change, and the misinformation being spread about them can be dangerous.
