Climate Change Will Double Area Burned In U.S. Wildfires By 2050, Report Warns

Wildfires in the U.S. will be at least twice as destructive by 2050, burning around 20 million acres nationwide each year, according to a federal report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, who authored the report, found regions such as western Colorado - which already experienced its most destructive wildfire in history last summer - will face an even greater risk fire risk: those regions are expected to face up to a five-fold increase in acres burned by 2050.

The report's findings are in line with previous studies on climate change's relation to fire risk: a 2012 study found that wildfire burn season is two and a half months longer than it was 40 years ago, and that for every one degree Celsius temperature increase the earth experiences, the area burned in the western U.S. could quadruple. The findings are also in line with the observed impacts climate change is having on wildfires. Wildfires in 2012 burned a record 9.2 million acres in the U.S., and record-breaking heat and dry weather in Australia provided ideal conditions for at least 90 fires that raged through the country this January.

The report also outlines the other effects climate change will have on the forests of the U.S. The Rocky Mountain forests are expected to become hotter and drier as the planet warms, conditions that in addition to wildfires will lead to an increase in infestations of insects such as the bark beetle, which has already destroyed tens of millions of acres of U.S. forests. One species, the mountain pine beetle, has already killed 70,000 square miles of trees - area the size of Washington state. As winters become milder, weather becomes drier and higher elevations become warmer, bark beetles are able to thrive and extend their ranges northward. An increase in some species of bark beetle can actually increase the risk of forest fires in areas affected by the beetle - the study notes an outbreak of the mountain pine bark beetle, which attacks and kills live trees, created a "perfect storm" in 2006 in Washington, where affected lodgepole pines burned "with exceptionally high intensity."

David Peterson, a U.S. Forest Service biologist who co-authored the report, told the Denver Post that the destruction the bark beetles have inflicted upon western forests in recent years has been unprecedented:

"We're getting into extreme events that seem to be having more and more effects across broader landscapes."

The report also predicts an increase of invasive plants and animals, as well as flooding and erosion due to increased rainfall, higher rain to snow ratios and more burned areas. It notes that U.S. forests offset 13 percent of the country's carbon emissions, and as trees killed by insects and fire decompose, they'll emit carbon themselves. Because of the sweeping impacts, the report, which is being finalized for the White House and Congress, calls on forest managers to make "climate-smart" practices, such as thinning fire-vulnerable forests, a priority.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/04/1821921/climate-change-wil

Devastating wildfires in Australia linked to climate change

Wildfires in Tasmania, Creative Commons: Toni Fish, 2013

Facing a record breaking heat wave and catastrophic wildfires raging across Tasmania and New South Wales, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke publicly of the connection between these weather conditions and climate change.

"We do know that over time as a result of climate change we are going to see more extreme weather events," said Prime Minister Gillard.

Fires are currently burning in five out of the six Australian states. Though no fatalities have been reported, emergency workers continue to search for missing people.

According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the last four months of 2012 set new maximum temperature records across the nation. In fact, the Bureau added new colors to their forecasting charts to indicate never before seen temperatures of up to 54 degrees Celsius. These temperatures, in combination with a delayed and weak monsoon season, helped to spark the dangerous wildfires in the eastern part of the nation.

Like U.S. President Obama's remarks in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Prime Minister Gillard's comments reflect the growing awareness amongst world leaders of the connection between climate change and a 'new normal' of increased dangerous weather events. Average temperatures in Australia have climbed by almost 1 degree Celsius since 1910 due to climate change, and may continue to rise by up to 5 degrees Celsius by 2070. This news comes as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirms that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the United States.

http://tcktcktck.org/2013/01/devastating-wildfires-in-australia-linked