USA: Beetles to blame for Colorado's fires? Blame climate change instead

The way wildfires, pine beetles and the effects of climate change interact is more complicated than it seems, according to NBC News.

"The culprit here is the unusual weather conditions, which might become the new norm with climate change," said Jesse Logan, a retired U.S. Forest Service researcher who has spent decades studying the mountain pine beetle's effect on Western forests. He added: "You can point your finger in various directions. It might be the mountain pine beetles, or it might be lack of response to a lightning strike. But really what was driving that was unusually dry weather conditions, and that's what's happening in Colorado."