Climate and society will determine the future of wildfire in the South
Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - 02:31
in Earth & Climate
A new study by U.S. Forest Service scientists and collaborators projects a four percent increase overall in acres burned by wildfire in the Southeast by 2060, but with substantial uncertainties and large variations by state and ecoregion, including a 34 percent increase in acres burned due to lightning-caused fires. The study, just published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire, is one of the first to account for land use and other societal changes in making projections of future acres burned by wildfires.