A new study from the Michigan State University states that changing climate patterns are fueling wildfires in Western America.
Wildfires are the hardest to contain and pose a huge challenge for fire and forest officials. Most often they result in disastrous damage to life and property. A new study has analyzed the current and future climate patterns and found that these changes play a major role in fueling wildfires in the mountainous regions of Western America including Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The study, led by Lifeng Luo, MSU assistant professor of geography, predicts the trend will continue with the current rate of climate changes in the U.S. The study also found that August is the most active month for wildfires in Western America.
"Our findings suggest that future lower atmospheric conditions may favor larger and more extreme wildfires, posing an additional challenge to fire and forest management," Luo said in a press release, published by Science Daily.
In August 2012, 6,948 wildfires were recorded. This was the second least fire incidents recorded in a 12-year timeframe. More than 3.6 million acres were burnt in the region in August last year. With the heightened dangers of the wildfires in this month, it is a warning for firefighters and forest officials to stay alert.
Researchers suspect that the global climate change may fuel the spread of wildfires across different parts of the world. These wildfires are caused due to the availability of fuel, rainfall wind and the center for lightening strikes. Moreover a dry and unstable lower atmosphere is also a major contributor to extreme fires in the region.
The study is published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.
