High-severity wildfires in northern coastal California have been increasing by about 10 percent per decade since 1984, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, that associates climate trends with wildfire.
The study, published online in Environmental Research Letters, shows that the drought of 2012-2016 nearly quadrupled the area burned severely, compared to the relatively cooler drought of 1987-1992.
“The severity of wildfires has been increasing over the past four decades,” said lead author Yuhan Huang, a graduate student researcher at UC Davis. “We found that fires were much bigger and more severe during dry and hot years compared to other climatic conditions.”
Heat wave fans flames
The study area includes coastal foothills and mountains surrounded by Central Valley lowlands to the east and stretching north to the Klamath Mountains. Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument resides in the southeast portion. It and several areas described in the study have been impacted by wildfire in recent months during a heat wave and the largest wildfire season recorded in California.
Read more at University of California - Davis
Image: This map overlays the probability of burn severity in California's northern coastal mountains, as forecasted in a UC Davis study, with burn perimeters of wildfires burning in September 2020. (Credit: UC Davis)