In the last 30 years wildfires have gotten bigger, worse and more frequent. There has been an increase rate of 7 fires a year between 1984 and 2011 of fires that burned more than 1000 acres. The trend is linked to climate change and the implication is that it is likely to become more severe in the coming years. The fact that the US has been hit by severe droughts and been ravaged by wildfire is not new, but the connection between droughts and wildfires are not straightforward. High temperatures and sustained droughts tend to increase the risk of fires. Research conducted seems to suggest that the pattern of heat and droughts in the west, and winter ice storms in the east of the US began a long time ago and is going to continue. The trend of having warm dry winter in the west and extreme of cold in the east of the US seem to have been set in 4000 years ago and may increase as the global average temperatures rises.
http://www.standard.net/stories/2014/04/28/u-u-study-shows-wildfires-have-gotten-bigger-badder-over-last-30-years
No comments:
Post a Comment