Hotter, drier conditions fuel recent wildfires, 1910 fires

Increases in wildfires in the Northern Rockies over the past 30 years coincide with hotter, drier summer conditions, a recent study says. A research team from the University of Idaho and the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a century of climate records and wildfire data from Idaho and Western Montana, which is one of the nation’s most fire-prone areas. Since the mid-1980s, the numbers of acres burned annually increased in correlation with warmer temperatures and less moisture. The same was true for the early 1900s when large fires broke out, including “the Big Burn” of 1910 that swept across 3 million acres. During a cooler, wetter period in the mid-1900s, wildfire activity decreased, according to the study, which was published last week in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. With warmer, drier conditions predicted in the future, many scientists expect large wildfires to become increasingly common. “The tight link between fire and climate documented by this research suggests the potential for an unusually large fire season across much of the region,” said by Philip Higuera, associate professor in the University of Idaho’s College of Natural Resources.