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Impacts of Climate Change: Wildfires Nancy Huffman, Camille Lee, Brian Han, Colin Mclaughlin, Josiah Wedgwood CPSG101 Science & Global Change First Year Colloquium II April 2, 2017 Nature of Wildfires ● Wildfires are influenced by the environmental conditions ○ Australia - Grass fuels and and relatively low intensity. ○ Western United States - 2 types. High-severity fires that kill overstory trees in high-elevations. Low-severity fires that maintain relatively open forest structures of fire-resistant trees ○ Mediterranean - Dense shrublands and woodlands that promote high intensity “crown” fires. Bibliography: Figure 1: Moritz, Max., E Batllori, R Bradstock, A Gill, J Handmer, P Hessburg, J Leonard, S McCaffrey, D Odion, T Schoennagel, A Syphard. 2014. Learning to coexist with wildfire (Links to an external site.) . Nature 515, 58–66. doi:10.1038/nature13946 Figure 2: United States Geological Survey (USGS). 26 July, 2016. “Where Large Wildfires Are Most Common in the U.S.” . The Weather Channel. Accessed 3 April 2017. Figure 3: International Association of Wildland Fire. 19 August, 2015. “What the wildfires are costing us” . CNBC. Accessed 3 April 2017. Figure 4: National Interagency Fire Center. 19 August, 2015. “What the wildfires are costing us” . CNBC. Accessed 3 April 2017. Figure 5: National Interagency Fire Center. 19 August, 2015. “What the wildfires are costing us” . CNBC. Accessed 3 April 2017. Figure 6: Environmental Protection Agency. 22 June 2015. “Climate Action Benefits: Wildfire ”. EPA. Accessed 3 April 2017. Figure 7: Environmental Protection Agency. January, 2017. “How Smoke from Fires can Affect Your Health.” EPA. Accessed 1 April 2017. Figure 8: CBBC. “California Forest Fires. ” CBBC News. Accessed 1 April 2017. Figure 9: Anonymous. 2013. Infographic: Western Wildfires and Climate Change . Union of Cornered Scientist. Accessed 3 April 2017. Figure 10: Anonymous. 18 January, 2017. Fire Awareness. Florida Diaster.org. Accessed 3 April 2017. How Wildfires Are Changing ● As climate change and global warming increases, it suitably follows that the frequency and severity of wildfires will increase as well. ● Future fire environments will not be considered normal by today’s standards. ● The occurrence of large forest wildfires is projected to increase due to climate change. Effects of Increasing Wildfire Rates (People and Animals) ● Particle pollution has a huge negative impact on people. These particles can enter your lungs and get lodged in them and even trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, and even kill. ● Forest fire smoke also releases Carbon Monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and other hazardous air pollutants. ● It's been known that wildfire smoke can also be spread thousands of miles away from its initial point and can affect people everywhere. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 6 Figure 5 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10
