Hillary Clinton links climate change to recent wildfires, hurricanes in California speech

— -- Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton linked climate change with the spate of hurricanes and now wildfires that have hit the country in recent weeks.

"I drove here and I know about what's going on with these terrible fires in Sonoma and Napa and across other parts of northern California and I just want to express my deep sympathy to everyone," Clinton said, speaking to an audience at the University of California, Davis, on Monday night.

"It's been a tough couple of weeks with hurricanes and earthquakes and now these terrible fires," said Clinton. "So in addition to expressing our sympathy, we need to really come together to try to work to prevent and mitigate, and that starts with acknowledging climate change and the role that it plays in exacerbating such events," Clinton said to applause.

Clinton's remarks come as the state faces one of the deadliest wildfire outbreaks in its history. More than a dozen blazes in several counties killed at least 10 people and injured hundreds, destroying some 1,500 structures and torching nearly 100,000 acres of land.

On Saturday, Hurricane Nate made landfall on the Gulf Coast, the fourth hurricane to hit the U.S. in the past six weeks.

Clinton appeared at the university as part of a tour promoting her new book "What Happened," about the 2016 campaign.

Later in the speech, Clinton took on the NFL player protests that have been the subject of heated debate in recent weeks.

“And by the way, let’s be clear, those players aren’t protesting the national anthem or the flag, they’re protesting racism and injustice, and they have every right to do so,” she said.

President Donald Trump has been an outspoken critic of the protests, calling for punishment for players who he said "disrespect our Flag," in a Monday tweet.

ABC News' Chris Donovan contributed to this story.