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Climate Change Making Western Wildfires in US Worse

Steve Baragona

   WASHINGTON - Wildfires have burned a record-breaking 1.25 million
   hectares in California as of Saturday. Washington state is enduring its
   second-largest area burned. A half-million people are under a fire
   evacuation warning or order in Oregon, one-tenth of the state's
   population.

   The devastation is not unexpected. Climate experts have been sounding
   the alarm for a long time, said University of California, Merced,
   wildfire expert LeRoy Westerling.

   "We've been doing modeling and simulations for years now that indicate
   that these really severe widespread fire seasons are coming, beyond
   anything that we've really experienced in the historical record," he
   said. "And we're seeing that emerge in real time, year by year here in
   California and around the western United States. So in that sense it's
   not surprising at all."

   On the other hand, he added, living through it is another story. "It
   feels very real and very surprising every year as it ratchets up and
   gets a little more horrible."

   Heating up, drying out

   Wildfires need dry plants to burn, and climate change is helping
   increase the supply, Westerling said.

   Higher temperatures mean flammable materials dry out faster. California
   and Oregon have already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius on average
   since the start of the 20th century, and Washington is about 0.8
   degrees C warmer, [1]according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
   Administration. High-temperature extremes are becoming more common,
   too, especially the number of warm nights.

References

   1. https://statesummaries.ncics.org/

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