The Palisades and Eaton fires are currently raging in California, entering the record books as some of the most devastating fires the state has ever seen.

These wildfires have claimed at least 24 lives, jeopardized the air quality for millions, and estimates for the resulting damages reach into the billions.

As global temperatures rise due to climate change caused by human activities, experts warn that wildfires in the western U.S. are likely to increase in frequency and severity.

To understand the trends of wildfires in California, YSL News examined data from state and federal sources dating back to 1984.

In a review of nearly 2,000 wildfires, including those that spread across state lines, it turns out all of the 25 largest fires have occurred in this century. This ranking reflects the total area burned by each fire.

The smallest fire on this list, the Camp Fire of 2018, scorched about 150,000 acres. In contrast, the largest— the August Complex fire of 2020—devastated over a million acres.

While that was the only fire to surpass the million-acre mark, yearly totals of burned acres have increasingly crossed that threshold as well.

Prior to 2008, California had never experienced a single year where more than one million acres were burned. However, in that year alone, over 1.4 million acres were consumed by wildfires. Since then, there have been four additional instances of exceeding a million acres burned in a single year, with 2020 recording the highest at an astounding 4.3 million acres.

Over the last twenty years, the average number of acres burned annually has more than doubled compared to the previous two decades.

During this time, the month that sees the most fire outbreaks has shifted from August to July, with a median start date occurring about a week earlier.