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Science 18 August 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5789, p. 888
DOI: 10.1126/science.313.5789.888b
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This Week in Science

Understanding the underlying causes of the increases in wildfire activity in the western United States during the last several decades will impact how to manage the risk that wildfires pose. Westerling et al. (p. 940, published online 6 July with the Perspective by Running; see the cover) compiled a comprehensive time series of large forest wildfires in the western United States for the period from 1970 to 2003, and compared those data with corresponding observations of climate, hydrology, and land surface conditions. Wildfire activity increased suddenly in the mid-1980s. Hydroclimate and fires are closely related, and climate variation has been the primary cause of the increase in fires during the period of their study, although land use changes can also be important. Longer springs and summers that could result as the world warms will continue to lengthen the fire season and continue to cause more large wildfires.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)