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It seems unlikely that much of this is actually due to climate change, but rather due to the way forests are managed (although this may be different in Canada w
by joveian 10y ago
It seems unlikely that much of this is actually due to climate change, but rather due to the way forests are managed (although this may be different in Canada where the forest area to people ratio is much higher). I don't have a good link handy but much has been written on this topic. In short, in the US at least there has been an attempt to avoid all forest fires, which leads to fewer fires that are more severe when they do happen. I don't remember the details and can't find the article, but it was mentioned that one area of the forest near last year's Oregon fire was under different management techniques and fared relatively well.
- lisper 10y agoYou can, of course, never know whether any particular fire is due to climate change or not. But there is no question that climate change is dramatically increasing the number and intensity of wildfires in western North America because of decreased precipitation. That, combined with increased human settlement in what were once wilderness areas, virtually guarantees that this sort of thing is going to happen more and more often, hence "the new normal." http://www.adn.com/article/20150810/2015-alaska-wildfire-season-now-2nd-biggest-record http://www.adn.com/article/20150810/2015-alaska-wildfire-sea... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/01/06/2015-wildfire-season-just-set-an-amazing-and-troubling-new-record/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/20...