Intensifying Fire Season Aridity Portends Ongoing Expansion of Severe Wildfire in Western US Forests.

ABSTRACT: Area burned by wildfire has increased in western US forests and elsewhere over recent decades coincident with warmer and drier fire seasons. However, high-severity fire-fire that kills all or most trees-is arguably a more important metric of fire activity given its destabilizing influence on forest ecosystems and direct and indirect impacts to human communities. Here, we quantified area burned and area burned severely in western US forests from 1985 to 2022 and evaluated trends through time. We also assessed key relationships between area burned, extent and proportion burned severely, and fire season climate aridity. Lastly, using the strong relationships between fire season aridity and both area burned and area burned severely, we predicted future fire activity under ongoing warming. Whil

SUBMITTER: Parks SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12365577 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature