In 1871, a massive fire around the Great Lakes killed thousands of people and burned millions of acres. Chicago burned to the ground the same day. Katherine Hayhoe tells us that these fires are caused by man-made CO2.
Hayhoe, along with an international team of scientists, discovered that climate change will disrupt fire patterns across over 80 percent of the globe by the end of the century. Scientists found compelling agreement among long term models that more fires would occur at mid-to-high latitude areas like North America (shorter term models present more variability).”
Can we disrupt the fire patterns enough to prevent mega-fires like 1871 and 1910, which were much larger than anything we have experienced recently?
“There’s no question that humans have altered the background atmosphere on a global scale,” Hayhoe said. “And there’s also no question humans have altered the environment on the local and regional level,” she said, by living near forests and choosing how to manage them. “Climate change is often the final straw in a lot of those cases.”
Technology – Climate Desk – Is the Colorado Wildfire the Future Norm? – The Atlantic