Thursday, September 17, 2020

Fire on the Mountain

 




The current fires in the Pacific Northwest are one indication of a changing fire ecology of the planet that is being driven in part by climate change. Regions that have a long history of fire are facing larger, more intense, and out of season fires. Regions where fires have historically been modest or rare are now experiencing a radical shift in the scale and frequency of fires. An example of the later is the changing fire regime of boreal and arctic regions. Not only do these changes affect the ecology of the region, but they also are an important climate feedback. Check out this story from the BBC about forest fires in Siberia:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-54165871