Wildfires increasing in size and frequency across the U.S. West

Since 1984, wildfires have increased in size and frequency, correlating with higher drought severity across the western United States. Dennison et al. looked at remotely sensed data from the U.S. government's Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity project from the years 1984−2011, focusing on fires larger than 400 hectares in nine ecoregions that included mountains, plains, and deserts. The authors found that not only are wildfires becoming more frequent—by an estimated seven large fires per year—but they are also burning more total area, increasing by about 355 square kilometers per year.