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Global warming is increasing wildfires (and increasing the danger from nuclear facilities)

New research finds that global warming is intensifying wildfires, Guardian, John Abraham, 3 Dec 15 A new study finds a human fingerprint in growing California wildfire risks A new paper was just published which provides a glimpse into the future of wildfires. The paper is titled “Extreme fire season in California: A glimpse into the future?” It was published as the second chapter of “Explaining Extreme Events of 2014” which is from by the American Meteorological Society and it is available here. The lead-in summary to the article is very much to the point. It states,

The fire season in northern California during 2014 was the second longest in terms of burned areas since 1996. An increase in fire risk in California is attributable to human-induced climate change.

The authors, Jin-Ho Yoon and colleagues make the point that California has been under drought conditions since 2012 and that the drought worsened recently. As is obvious, drought exacerbates the threat from wildfires. Last year, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection saw many more fires than have occurred in the prior five-year averages……

The authors then project into the future and ask what the current trends portend over the next few centuries. The predicted results are striking. We can expect to see increases in the drought index, the area under extreme threat of fires, and the days of fire danger. The following statement from the report provides a great summary.

The increase in extreme fire risk is expected within the coming decade to exceed that of natural variability and this serves as an indication that anthropogenic climate warming will likely play a significant role in influence California’s fire season…..http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/dec/03/new-research-finds-that-global-warming-is-intensifying-wildfires

December 4, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA