Wildfires across the United States

ATMO 1010

Severe & Hazardous Weather

Derek Mallia

August 4, 2017
 Weve all seen those commercials, you know the ones: Smokey Bear comes out and says,

Only you can prevent forest fires. Thats a great slogan for the prevention of man-made forest

fires, but wildfires are a natural part of our environment. They can be a source of great change,

clearing land to make way for new growth and plant life, changing the courses of rivers which

can create new ecosystems, and even providing new habitats for wildlife. Even though wildfires

can have beneficial aspects, they can be unpredictable and can have a devastating side to them as

well. They can destroy homes and emit harmful pollution into the air.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the amount of wildfires in the western United States

and the amount of land that was burned remained relatively the same each year. When the

Industrial Revolution made its way to the United States, the population began to grow

significantly. This led to a need for more land resources. As resources were used, the Earths

natural defenses were weakened and wildfires began to increase in frequency.

1This figure represents fire activity over the centuries

As industry continued to grow, so did technology and new methods for fire suppression

were created. Eventually, these advancements led to a decline in wildfires. Fire engines had a
much larger capacity for water and aerial help was available to assist in fighting fires. People

also became more effective in fighting fires; detection of fires and response times were faster,

communication between departments became more efficient, and the number of firefighters

available to help was much larger. (Gabbert, "Why have fires gotten larger in recent decades?",

2016). Despite these advancements, wildfire activity began to increase again in the early 1980s.

(Westrling, Hidalgo, Cayan, & Swetnam, "Warming and Earlier Spring IncreaseWestern U.S.

Forest Wildfire Activity", 2006). Today, not only are there more fires than 40 years ago, but the

fires are burning more total area.

The reason behind this increase could be from a combination of factors. One theory is

based on land-use management. Some researchers believe that heavy logging of land and not

enough large fires have led to a change in forest structure. This, in turn, has led to less effective

fire suppression

The effects of fire exclusion are thought to be profound in forests that previously sustained

frequent, low-intensity surface fires [such as Southwestern ponderosa pine and Sierra Nevada

mixed conifer but of little or no consequence in forests that previously sustained only very

infrequent, high-severity crown fires (such as Northern Rockies lodgepole pine or spruce-fir.

(Westrling, Hidalgo, Cayan, & Swetnam, "Warming and Earlier Spring IncreaseWestern U.S.

Forest Wildfire Activity", 2006).

Other researchers believe that the increase in wildfires could be stemming from the increase in

global temperatures. As pollution and other emissions are released into the air, the temperature is

gradually beginning to rise. This is causing a domino effect. As the temperatures rise, areas like

the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Range, and Columbia Plateau are having shorter winter periods

with less snow fall; less snowfall means less runoff in the Spring, and less run off means a

longer, drier Summer. (Mallia, "Western US wildfires in an increasingly warming climate",

2016). Some areas may even see bouts of drought due to the lack of snowfall during winter

months with the cycle repeating itself.

There has been debate about whether wildfires trends will change in the future. Some

researchers believe we will continue to see a decrease for a period of time before an increase

begins. However, other researchers believe that we are already beginning to see an increase in

wildfires. According to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, the 2015 wildfire

season was one of the most extensive on record seeing more than 10million acres of land burned.

(Mallia, "Western US wildfires in an increasingly warming climate", 2016). Fires are occurring

nearly five times more often, burning six times as much land, and lasting almost five times

longer. ((www.dw.com), "How climate change is increasing forest fires around the world | DW

Environment | DW | 19.06.2017", 2017). As previously mentioned, the climate change could be a

large contributor to these changing wildfire trends. As the snow begins to melt earlier in the

season, it could possibly make for a much longer wildfire season.

Wildfires are a natural part of our environment which helps promote growth and change,

but wildfires can also have repercussions as well. During a wildfire, deadly carbon dioxide is

released into the air. As wildfires continue to grow, the amount of carbon dioxide released will

grow as well. This could cause severe consequences, not only for people, but also for the

environment. Small fires will release carbon dioxide into the air, but surviving plants and trees

will work to pull it back in, in a balancing effect. The more devastating a fire, the more carbon

dioxide is released into the air. If a fire is large enough, there may be no surviving vegetation to

balance the release. This could very likely have a serious effect on climate change. (Mooney,

"The really scary thing about wildfires is how they can worsen climate change", 2015). More
carbon dioxide could mean higher temperatures and higher temperatures could mean more

wildfires.

Carbon Dioxide is just one repercussion of a wildfire. Smoke plumes from a wildfire can

also have costly effects.

Smoke plumeswhich contain very small particulates that negatively impact the human

respiratory, cardiovascular, and immune systemscan travel for hundreds of miles. More

frequent wildfires emitting greater emissions of pollutants across the western US, coupled with

population growth, will only exacerbate air quality issues in the future. (Mallia, "Western US

wildfires in an increasingly warming climate", 2016).

Recently, a wildfire broke out in British Columbia, Canada. Heavy pushed large smoke plumes across the

border into parts of Washington State. This caused unhealthy air quality for many residents in many parts

of western Washington. The combination of carbon dioxide and particles from a smoke flume can

2("Smoke from Canadian wildfires blowing into Washington", 2017)

be most harmful to the elderly, children and pregnant women. Anyone with heart or lung

diseases could also be adversely affected. In locations like the Salt Lake Valley where inversion

is already an issue, the effects of a wildfire could have a more serious impact. Smoke and/or
particles could become trapped under the inversion layer with nowhere to go. This could create

even more unhealthy air quality for residents in areas with inversion.

The fact is, wildfires are increasing in number, size, and length and will continue to do so

if we are not able to find a way to change things. Global warming and wildfires will continue to

feed off of each other in a vicious circle. If that cycle continues, the outcome can only be

disastrous for us.

Works Cited

Gabbert, B. (2016, October 29). Why have fires gotten larger in recent decades? Retrieved
August 01, 2017, from http://wildfiretoday.com/tag/statistics/

Mallia, D. (2016). Western US wildfires in an increasingly warming climate. Physics Today.

doi:10.1063/PT.5.4021

Mooney, C. (2015, May 14). The really scary thing about wildfires is how they can worsen
climate change. The Washington Post. Retrieved August 02, 2017, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/05/14/how-massive-
wildfires-can-actually-warm-the-planet/?utm_term=.56038130da53

Smoke from Canadian wildfires blowing into Washington. (2017, August 01). Retrieved August
03, 2017, from http://q13fox.com/2017/07/31/smoke-from-canadian-wildfires-blowing-into-
washington/

Westrling, A. L., Hidalgo, H. G., Cayan, D. R., & Swetnam, T. W. (2006). Warming and Earlier
Spring IncreaseWestern U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity. Science, 313.
doi:10.1126/science.1130691

(www.dw.com), D. W. (2017, June 19). How climate change is increasing forest fires around the
world | DW Environment | DW | 19.06.2017. Retrieved August 02, 2017, from
http://www.dw.com/en/how-climate-change-is-increasing-forest-fires-around-the-world/a-
19465490