Trump Fans Flames of Climate Row in California
Desk Report
Published: 15 Sep 2020, 07:48 pm
Six of the 20 largest fires on record in California have all occurred this year. Photo: Colected
President Trump has dismissed concerns over climate change on a visit to fire-ravaged California, telling an official there it would "start getting cooler".
Blazes in California, Oregon and Washington state have burned almost 2m hectares (5m acres) of land and killed at least 36 people since early August.
Trump, who has often denied climate change, blames poor forest management.
Earlier on Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called Trump "a climate arsonist".
He told an event in Delaware that four more years of his opponent in the White House would see "more of America ablaze".
During his visit to the US West Coast, Trump repeated his argument that poor forest management was to blame as he met Californian officials involved in the battle against the wildfires at a stop near Sacramento, in the center of the state.
Dismissing one official's plea to not "ignore the science" on climate change, Trump said: "It'll start getting cooler, you just watch... I don't think science knows actually."