Western wildfires destroyed 246% more homes and buildings over the past decade – fire scientists explain what's changing

[...]in nearly every Western state, more homes and buildings were destroyed by wildfire over the past decade than the decade before, revealing increasing vulnerability to wildfire disasters. Human-caused wildfires also expand the fire season beyond the summer months when lightning is most common, an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Conversation : Environment + Energy
Main Authors Higuera, Philip, Balch, Jennifer, Cook, Maxwell, Stavros, Natasha
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston The Conversation US, Inc 01.02.2023
Subjects
Buildings
Climate change
Forest & brush fires
Funding
Power
Summer
Trends
Vegetation
Wildfires
United States > US
Colorado
California
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Summary:[...]in nearly every Western state, more homes and buildings were destroyed by wildfire over the past decade than the decade before, revealing increasing vulnerability to wildfire disasters. Human-caused wildfires also expand the fire season beyond the summer months when lightning is most common, and they are particularly destructive during late summer and fall when they overlap with periods of high winds. [...]of all the wildfires that destroy structures in the West, human-caused events typically destroy over 10 times more structures for every square mile burned, compared to lighting-caused events.