nightmare. the fast-moving fires killed dozens and destroyed thousands of structure. in for him rage has erupted. santa ana winds spread these large fires. they embers fly toward houses that haven t burned yet. in the foothill areas of ventura, california, this home completely lost. 20 homes that we can count are burned to the ground. the thomas fire alone in ventura county scorched an area biggest than boston and new york city combined and will likely continue to burn into 2018. 2017 our hurricane drought ended abruptly. irma, maria, harvey brought death and destruction from the islands of the caribbean right through the florida keys, and up the gulf coast. it s not like we didn t have major hurricanes in the atlantic or the caribbean, they just never hit the u.s.
first year, but it s also faced one natural disaster after another. who can forget that spectacular show in the sky snow turning day into night, bringing millions of people together. that was very cool. chad myers has the top seven weather and climate stories of the past year. it was an incredible year of extremes. 2017 produced 15 give billion dollar weather disasters. here are the top seven weather and climate events of 2017. number seven, every acre of california was in drought. nearly two thirds of the state was classified exceptional. tens of millions of trees died, creating concern for a major wildfire season ahead. rain and show las returned with a vengeance to california in the fall of 2016, and continued through the spring of this year.
2016, countries around the world came together to sign an historic agreement. but in one of the most significant moves in his first year in office, the united states will cease all implementation of the non-binding paris accord. president trump pulled out of the deal. the u.s. is the second biggest emitest of fossil gases, only behind china and is the only country in the world not part of the agreement. the death toll from the wildfires has now climbed to 29. hundreds reported missing. california wildfires are number four on the list. in october northern california was hit with deadly wildfires, the worst damage and highest death troll occurred in wine country. entire neighborhoods have been reduced to ashes. there s no words. it s a nightmare, a real-life