The large number of wildfires taking place in California and Arizona suggest a warmer and fiery future, largely due to climate change brought about by global warming.
This year, more than a couple of studies have highlighted that wildfires, especially in California and Arizona, are getting bigger and occurring more frequently. These studies also stated that man-made activities are to blame for this and these occurrences are only going to get more frequent and worse with time. Though no studies have directly blamed global warming, many previous studies have stated that this climate change increases wildfire risks.
"The fires in California and here in Arizona are a clear example of what happens as the Earth warms, particularly as the West warms, and the warming caused by humans is making fire season longer and longer with each decade," said University of Arizona geoscientist Jonathan Overpeck, according to ABC News. "It's certainly an example of what we'll see more of in the future."
According to a 2009 report, global warming and wildfires are two phenomena that complement each other. With higher temperatures, the risks and severity of wildfires increase. This results in the production and release of more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
Global warming also contributes largely to mega-fires, which occur when multiple wildfires combine together to form a larger, deadlier blaze, and the size of these fires makes it difficult for containment. In the last decade, the occurrence of such fires has increased in frequency.
According to Global Change, about 6.4 million acres have been burned per year on an average since 2010, amounting to a 3.5 million acres increase since the 1980s.
Many studies have also highlighted that global warming also increases wildfires indirectly. This climate change leads to other factors that promote wildfires, such as drought and insect outbreaks. Global warming makes it convenient for some insects to thrive and these generally kill and dry plants and trees, making them more susceptible to fire. High temperatures also cause rivers and lakes to dry up, leading to droughts.
Global warming is also responsible for lengthening the wildfire season. Higher temperatures cause the summer season to kick in earlier, subsequently delaying the cooling fall season. Previous studies have also found that global warming increases the incidence of lightning, which is notorious for starting fires in dry climates. Every 1.8 degree increase in temperatures increases lightning incidences by 6 percent. This means that lightning incidences could increase by 12 to 30 percent by mid-century.
The global warming trend has hit Southern California extremely hard, and the months of January through April have been hotter this year than any others in recorded history. This has also caused a drought, which has been severe for the entire state. Last year, drought affected only 46 percent of California. Philip Dennison, author of one of the recent studies, stated that the extreme drought conditions will definitely cause a greater number of wildfire incidents.
