Over the past decade, deadly fires have become increasingly common as a result human-caused climate change a disruptive land management practices . Southern California, where the three of us live and work, was hit particularly hard . Southern California also experienced a wave of forest fires 13,000 years ago. These fires permanently changed the vegetation of the region and contributed to Earth's greatest extinction in more than 60 million years. How  paleontologists we have special view on the long-term causes and consequences of environmental changes, both those associated with natural climate fluctuations and those caused by humans. ( Emily Lindsey, University of California, Los Angeles, Lisa N. Martinez, University of California, Los Angeles, Regan E. Dunn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)