While fuel is a key ingredient for any blaze, many large fires are primarily fueled by drought and wind, not trees or brush.

Climate change has intensified the effects of dry, windy summers. Under drought conditions, even young, thinned forests or clearcuts will burn, and burn intensely. In fact, studies have found that climate-change-induced hotter, drier weather in the West has doubled the amount of forest land hit by wildfires since 1984.

Warming and Earlier Spring Increase Western U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity

Western United States forest wildfire activity is widely thought to have increased in recent decades, yet neither the extent of recent changes nor the degree to which climate may be driving regional changes in wildfire has been systematically documented. Much…

Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests

Increased forest fire activity across the western continental United States (US) in recent decades has likely been enabled by a number offactors, including the legacy of fire suppression and human settlement, natural climate variability, and human-caused climate change.
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Climate Change Has Doubled Western U.S. Forest Fires, Says Study

A new study says that human-induced climate change has doubled the area affected by forest fires in the U.S. West over the last 30 years. According to the study, since 1984 heightened temperatures and resulting aridity have caused fires to…

HOW DOES CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT FOREST FIRES?

When we talk about the many effects of the climate crisis, a few tend to take center stage. We can easily understand why the Atlantic Ocean lapping down the streets of Miami is a problem. We can see retreating glaciers…

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