Scientists warn of 'danger season' due to summer's drought and wildfire risk

The combined threats of drought conditions, extreme heat, and wildfires led a group of scientists to slap a new label on this summer: "danger season."

The name was coined by the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental research and advocacy group, in a blog post published earlier this week.

The group noted that summer is the season when the U.S. experiences most of its extreme weather, including heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, and tropical storms. Existing droughts are exacerbated by hot conditions. And, as the group noted, these threats also “compound one another and cause cascading chains of hazards,” such as the increased risk of wildfires in drought-stricken parts of the country.