Climate Change Is Fueling America’s Wildfires, And It’ll Only Get Worse

"The wildfires that raged through the Western United States this year claimed lives, destroyed hundreds of homes and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Scientistsclaimed climate change was a cause of the blazes."

"Human-induced climate change has at least doubled the area affected by forest fires in the Western U.S. since 1984, according to the study, published this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Warmer temperatures, and thus dryer land, have caused fires to rage across an additional 16,000 square miles of forest, the researchers found."

"Since 1970, average temperatures in forested parts of the Western U.S. are said to have increased about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and scientists expect this upward trend to continue. Wildfires are going to “increase exponentially” as temperatures rise, said researchers ― for as long, at least, as there are enough trees left to burn."

"The new research corroborates earlier evidence of climate change’s impacts on America’s wildfires. A 2014 study found that large forest fires in the Western U.S. had increased by a rate of seven fires a year from 1984 to 2011. Climate change was “a very likely factor” in this rise, the study’s authors said."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-change-wildfires-western-us_us_580863d5e4b0b994d4c47a90?utm_hp_ref=extreme-weather