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.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found.

Human-caused climate change made the Los Angeles-area fires more likely and more destructive, according to a study out Tuesday. Why it matters: The study — from an international group of 32 climate researchers — shows how climate change fits into the myriad factors that made the multiple blazes one of California's most destructive and expensive wildfire disasters on record.