It’s official: 2017 is the deadliest and most destructive year on record for wildfires in California. Dry conditions, high temperatures, roaring winds and bone-dry trees and brush are all factors responsible for the devastation. But one underlying question is how much of a role has climate change played? “There is no singular cause for any real significant event,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. “It’s usually a confluence of factors that are important. And in a lot of cases, global warming definitely plays a role and is one of those factors.”