News on Climate Disruption, page 9

Wildfire

Study links wildfires in Sierra to climate change, San Francisco Chronicle, April 24, 2009. Researchers find that increased wildfires not only are a consequence of climate change, they also create a feedback that contributes to climate change. Yet fire-climate feedbacks have been largely absent from global climate models. Among the findings are a forecast for larger, more frequent wildfires in the Sierra Nevada and other parts of the West.

Sierra Nevada climate changes feed monster, forest-devouring fires, Sacramento Bee, November 30, 2008. Foresters describe increased wildfire frequency, severity, and overall burned areas in northern California and western Nevada forests, endangering the ability of the region's mixed conifer forest ecosystem to recover from high-severity, stand-replacing fires. According to a recent study , a pattern of somewhat increased winter moisture followed by temperature-induced earlier springs and longer summer drying of fuels combines with fire suppression policies to increase the fuel loadings that result in the high severity fires.  

Researchers: Expect more wildfires, Billings Gazette, September 25, 2008. At a meeting on the 20 th anniversary of the Yellowstone fires, experts predict that by 2100 the annual amount of acreage burned in the West will increase two to five times and that the average fire year could have the same type of moisture deficit that stoked the 1988 Yellowstone fires.

Rising temperatures stoke increase in western fires.  Los Angeles Times, July 9, 2006. A team of acclaimed researchers, comparing data on wildfires in the West from 1987-2003, compared to the previous 17 years, conclude that springs and summers are 1.5 degrees F hotter and that there has been a two month increase in the fire season, a four-fold increase in the number of fires, a five-fold increase in the time to put out fires, and a 6.5-fold increase in area burned. "I think this is the equivalent for the West of what hurricanes are for the Gulf Coast,’ said fire ecologist Steven Running at the University of Montana in Missoula, who was not connected with the research. ‘This is an illustration of a natural disaster that is accelerating in intensity as a result, I feel, of global warming.’" Highly Recommended!

Research suggests forest fires, global warming linked. Calgary Herald, July 21, 2006. A separate study came to a similar conclusion with respect to wildfires in Canada.

Beetle blazes new fire strategy, Denver Post, June 12, 2008. Citing heightened risks to firefighters from pine beetle infestations - weakened trees, thick beds of pine needles, and the likelihood of falling timber and hot crown fires – Colorado’s fire managers anticipate the need to let fires burn in some locations where they may not have in the past.  

Professor: Fires in West will worsen, Casper Star-Tribune, November 2, 2007. University of Montana professor Dr. Steven Running and U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimball are among those testifying before a congressional committee that changes in temperature and precipitation patterns from climate change will cause longer and more severe fire seasons in the West.

Expert: Warming climate fuels mega-fires, CBS News, October 21, 2007.  The Chief of Fire Operations for the National Interagency Fire Center observes the trend towards catastrophic mega-fires in the West, saying "Ten years ago, if you had a 100,000 acre fire, you were talking about a huge fire. And if we had one or two of those a year, that was probably unusual. Now we talk about 200,000 acre fires like it's just another day at the office. It's been a huge change." University of Arizona expert Tom Swetnam predicts that  more than half of forests in the Southwest will convert to other forests or other types of ecosystems due to the intensify of large fires.

Wildfires spark new insurer demands, Associated Press, May 21, 2007.

Wildfires never out of season, Las Vegas Review Journal, May 16, 2007. "The fires will be coming year-round. It's not just a few months out of the year anymore," says Bob Trodahl, fire chief with the National Park Service at Lake Mead.

State study: Funds lacking to save forest, Arizona Daily Sun, May 17, 2007. An Arizona task force recommends more funding and stronger building codes, among other things, to mitigate increased wildfire risk.

Wildfire areas get influx of residents, USA Today, May 11, 2007. Red zone urban interface areas throughout the West are growing 15% faster than other other areas, forcing reconsideration of land use and building coderestrictions.

Hayman fires still mucking up water, Denver Post, November 23, 2006. After spending nearly $8 million on controlling erosion from the 2003 Hayman fire, Denver Water estimates another $20 million will be needed over several years.

Fires likely to exceed agencies’ resources, The Oregonian, November 21, 2006. A “perfect storm’ of conditions favoring catastrophic wildfires, consisting of increased development in forest urban interface zones, historic fire suppression, and warming temperatures, overwhelms agencies’ financial resources.

Wildfires linked to climate, Associated Press, November 19, 2006. Rising temperatures in the West are tied to an upswing in fire activity.