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"Everything I say today may not be correct, but it& #39;s all supported by data." Just a great lecture by @peedublya on increasing western US wildfire activity. Recordbreaking conditions: in early September the North Complex fire was growing by 1 football field per *two seconds*
Summer 2010 was exceptionally hot; daily temperature records set across the west in August and continued into September...wildfires have been increasing for 40 years at least
...but is this a bad thing? Good question to pose. [Spoiler: yes.]
Federal fire suppression costs have increased more or less linearly with burned area. This is unsustainable. Why haven& #39;t we been more successful? A bunch of reasons:
Burned areas have increased mostly due to FOREST fires (+889%), not non-forest (+182%) fires.
For the last 100+ years western forests have built up a & #39;fire deficit& #39; - they& #39;re artificially dense. This "loads the dice". But this is probably less important than warmer, drier conditions from climate change...
I& #39;m sorry @peedublya can& #39;t help myself: "its" not "it& #39;s".
I& #39;m sorry @peedublya can& #39;t help myself: "its" not "it& #39;s".
Fuels have gotten dryer over the last 40 years. Ugh, this thread is going to get depressing.
