When a massive fire erupted at one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities in Monterey County, it didn't just send a toxic plume of smoke over nearby communities — it cast a shadow of doubt over the future of California's clean energy industry.

Scientists have linked a lithium battery plant fire in California earlier this month to a surge in heavy metals found in nearby soil.

The team used observations of past weather and computer simulations that compared what happened this month to a what-if world without the 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Celsius) of human-caused climate change.

As Southern California gets some much-needed rain, a new analysis suggests the conditions that led to January's wildfires were 35 per cent more likely because of human-fuelled climate change. And the more likely those fires become,

Federal funding for California wildfire relief could face roadblocks or delays after President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies to stop issuing grants and loans beginning Tuesday evening, according to an internal memorandum sent Monday.

President Donald Trump’s threat to withhold federal disaster relief to parts of California until certain conditions are met was chalked up to “political theater” by experts on Monday. Juliet Musso, associate professor at the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California,

California is suing to block President Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze, which impacts programs including wildfire aid and food stamps.