Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests

Increased forest fire activity across the western continental United States (US) in recent decades has likely been enabled by a number of factors, including the legacy of fire suppression and human settlement, natural climate variability, and human-caused climate change. We use modeled climate projections to estimate the contribution of anthropogenic climate change to observed increases in eight fuel aridity metrics and forest fire area across the western United States. Anthropogenic increases in temperature and vapor pressure deficit significantly enhanced fuel aridity across western US forests over the past several decades and, during 2000-2015, contributed to 75% more forested area experiencing high (>1 σ)…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 1520873
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Award: NNX14AJ14G
• LE
  Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University