Eastern U.S. sees more wildfires than ever

Scientists say an upward trend in wildfires throughout the eastern U.S emphasizes the importance of protective management. The new analysis includes data spanning more than three decades from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity Database. The findings suggest an increased wildfire risk in the eastern and southern portions of the Eastern Temperate Forest, an ecoregion that stretches from the Atlantic Coast to eastern Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota. “We don’t have the expansive wildfire problem that the western U.S. does yet, so this is also an opportunity to get ahead of the problem and prepare for shifting wildfire patterns before we start seeing the frequent destructive fires that we’re seeing in the West,” said Victoria Donovan, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of forest management at the UF/IFAS West Florida Research and Education Center. The team said the fire increase is due to human ignition and that climate change may be a factor.

Read more in Geophysical Research Letters.