Skip to main content

Wildfires and Climate Change

 
New York Times Logo
Galbraith, Kate. “Wildfires and Climate Change.” New York Times 4 Sep 2013.
 
 

“Global studies of wildfire patterns are rare. But a paper published last year in the journal Ecosphere predicted that climate change would have an effect on wildfires that varies widely, especially in accordance with a given region’s precipitation patterns.”

“The paper — which focused on climate change but not other variables, like changing land management — projected that dry parts of the middle latitudes and Australia are likely to see more fires over the long term. The American West, already a tinderbox, will become more fire-prone. So, too, will high-latitude areas, the study found, partly because the carbon-rich peat soil there will burn under extreme weather conditions.”

 
 
national geographic logo
Profeta, Tim. “Using the Clean Air Act to Regulate Carbon Emissions.” National Geographic 5 Sep 2013.
 
“A paper published last year in the journal Ecosphere came to a similar conclusion. It suggests that climate change’s effect on wildfires would vary widely, especially when precipitation patterns were factored in.”
 
 
Climate change and disruptions to global fire activity Max A. Moritz, Marc-André Parisien, Enric Batllori, Meg A. Krawchuk, Jeff Van Dorn, David J. Ganz, and Katharine Hayhoe. Ecosphere 2012 3:6, art49