Yellowstone burned for three months in 1988, destroying more than 600,000 hectares of forest. The fire resisted the best efforts of 25,000 firefighters and only flickered out with the first snow in mid-September of that year. This catastrophic wildfire in the western U.S. may have heralded a new era of bigger and more frequent fires thanks to climate change, according to new research.
Anthony Westerling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and his colleagues compiled a database of all western wildfires from 1970 through 2003 that burned more than 1,000 acres: 1,166 in all. They found that large wildfires became four times more frequent after 1987 and burned more than six and a half times as much forest. In essence, the region shifted that year from infrequent large wildfires that lasted roughly a week to more frequent burns that lasted for an average of more than a month. In addition, the length of the yearly wildfire season expanded by 78 days.
“Lots of people think climate change and the ecological responses are 50 to 100 years away,” says co-author Thomas Swetnam of the University of Arizona. “But it’s not 50 to 100 years away, it’s happening now in forest ecosystems through fire.”
I hope there are better solutions available than the head-in-the-sand rant of — “We can’t do anything about it; so, pray for rain!”
In the past there was never anyone around to control forrest fires, now we do and that generates excess carbon in the forrest, I saw we need to strip cut and then re-plant large stripes of the forest so that it is constantly renewing itself and we can sequester all that tied up wood carbon and use it for building houses which will tie it up.
Re: “I hope there are better solutions available than head-in-the-sand rant of ‘We can’t do anything about it; so, pray for rain!'”
As for me, I’ll pray for rain as there sure is not anything the author of that silly comment can do about it. Likely his only idea is to follow Al Gore’s ideas before global warming destroys the planet. Remember prophet Al predicted if we don’t do something quick by 2015 the global warming process likely cannot be reversed. Interesting since it was only in the 1970’s and 1980’s many respected scientists were predicting global cooling! Perhaps the earth is simply experiencing one of many global warming and cooling cycles as it has for many “thousands/millions” of years (take your pick).
I get so tired of reading all these America-hating anti-corporation stories posted by obvious liberals trying to help the terrorists win by spreading the viscious lie about global warming.
I’d keep ranting but I gotta call the air conditioning guy. The damn unit is on the fritz and I swear its hotter in here than it has been for over 100 years!
Keep that defensible space clear of brush.
#2 — the folks at DU seem to be perfectly capable and ready to offer up their ideas without some head-in-the-sand troll attempting to second guess them.
It appears you fall into the pray-for-rain category, as well.
Awww come on! Let the dumbass rich guys who move into the wild suffer through a wildfire thanks to their “Wild animals are a threat to my property! Kill them” and their “Controlled fires? Not in my backyard! The landscape full of trees surrounding my mansion is too beautiful and any change will devaluate the property!”
The credibility of global warming activists takes another hit with this “study”. The cause of the 1988, 3-month Yellowstone fire is well documented: Man’s 70-year intervention in the fire-growth cycle of a healthy forrest.
I guess a little re-writting of history is a good thing if your cause is just and heart is pure.
Eideard–
Well, at least the Southwest is getting rain right now.
Too much fire suppression in the past is one reason that forest fires have been more severe lately–more carbon present to fuel fires once they start. Maybe global warming is a cause of the fires, but it’s hard to separate that possible cause from the better documented cause of too much available fuel.
Hi, Floyd — hasn’t the rain the past few days been a delight?
Smith — read the article before you leap to silly statements of attainder. The study was based on an analysis of 1166 major fires. The Yellowstone Fire is what provoked attention to the questions studied. Sheesh!
The Yellowstone Fire is what provoked attention to the questions studied.
I was wondering about that, since the fires of ’88 started while Yellowstone was still using the “natural fire policy”
http://www.yellowstoneparknet.com/history/fires.php
In the first sixteen years of Yellowstone’s natural fire policy (1972-1987), 235 fires were allowed to burn 33,759 acres. Only 15 of those fires were larger than 100 acres, and all of the fires were extinguished naturally. Public response to the fires was good, and the program was considered a success.
No one anticipated that 1988 would be radically different.
Maybe if they’d maintain those roads in the parks, they could get firefighters out there in time. Instead, they want things to be roadless now. Saying this has anything to do with global warming is just stupidity.
4 years a go Arizona was having a lot of really bad fires, but it was mostly due to lack of controled burns(allowing nature to take it’s course)…this allowed the huge buildup of scrub and burnable brush to make for hotter, more intense fires. The policy in Arizona was one of stopping every fire immediatly…..and then the feds stopped any kind of forest management that allowed for removing the dead or dying tress and forest floor clearing.
Funny that the only areas not to burn when the largest of the fires were heading towards Snowflake and Pinetop were the forests on the reservations, which were managed by the indians and allowed some removal, and scrub clearance as well as clear cutting fire breaks BEFORE a fire happened.
oh…I do want to mention…..I believe we have global warming, but I have to wonder how many of those *worse* fires were just due to bad forest mangement.
something funny:
the wild fires a few years back, in Cali, that burned out ALOT of rich folks?? They are NOW paying for Goats to eat the under brush…Hmmm..
PAYING??? I know persons that would LOVe to have that, and NOT be pay’d.. goats sheep, and a few Slow moose(cattle)..
I would LOVE to see a NEW wild life release effort, or Wild cattle, on the BLM, lands. Something to shoot at, that can be replaced VERY easy.
The problem comes with the Patties(Bull spit). Many of the rich DONT like it. But, dont realize that its the best fertilizer found. And we eradicated ALL the Buffilo, that Kept the grass lands fertile.. and if some KID steps in it, and slips, ‘WHO ya gonna sue”. get off the high horse and step in the crud.
ALso, rain has caused the end of a draught here,
Small wonder that it also made the wild grasses grow, and now its summer and its drying out.(see wild terrorist acts). Mostly its the winds and dry air, that are the fun parts. BLM land is considered private, and fires on that land have to be controled by State and Fed, the cities cant touch it. It just burned 100,000 acres here. And it could have been stopped Quickly, BUT our city CANT touch that land.