The massive wildfires that have killed 10 people in the Los Angeles area and caused billions of dollars in property damage are the latest sign of the growing threat posed by climate change " one that President-elect Donald Trump will have to take more seriously than he did in his first term, a top adviser to President Joe Biden said. John Podesta, Biden's senior adviser for international climate policy, said one of the iconic images of Trump's first term showed him tossing paper towels to people in Puerto Rico who had been been ravaged by a hurricane. Many critics called Trump's action disrespectful, especially after he disputed a death count from Hurricane Maria that reached nearly 3,000 people.

"You would think hopefully he would have learned from the public's reaction to that " that you have to take the science seriously. You have to take the facts seriously. You have to take the threat seriously,' Podesta said in an interview with The Associated Press. As the unfolding disaster in California demonstrates, "these challenges from extreme weather events that are induced by climate change are just getting worse and worse", Podesta said. "I think that, hopefully, the second Trump administration will indeed take this more seriously' than in Trump's first term. Trump, a Republican, has not been offering much sympathy as the wildfires rage. Instead, he claimed this week that he could do a better job managing the crisis, casting blame on California's Democratic governor.