Dane Boswell

ATMO 1010
Class Project
December 4th, 2016

Why the sudden influx of Wildfires?

Recently in headlines across the western United States, such as Utah, Idaho, and
California, people are being forced to evacuate their homes and properties due to a
wildfire that has gone rampant. Has the wildfire epidemic always been this bad, or has it
increased exponentially due to other contributing atmospheric factors? Wildfires can be
one of the most deadly and destructive natural forces on this planet, we need to
understand how they are produced, both in the past and in future in order to protect our
family, and our planet.

According to David Bowman, a scientist at American Association for the

Advancement of Science. He quotes: "Over the past decade, a surge in the incidence of
large, uncontrolled fires has occurred on all vegetated continents". Although most fires
are caused by nature, there are some aspects that point to human involvement.
Yellowstone National Park, for example, has released a study for 2016 giving a very
descriptive chart that dictates all fires and their current status for this year, pointing out
that seven, of this years fires started, because of human error, i.e. vehicles, campfires,
cigarettes, etc (nps.gov pg 1).

In 1997, the fires of South east Asia's tropical forests, had a sickening effect on
the country. The estimated cost of damages, was somewhere between 8.5 and 9 billion
U.S dollars. Simultaneously, in Latin America, there was an estimated twenty million
acres burned, costing an insane fifteen billion dollars in damages (Bowman 481). These
statistics derive the fact that our resources in fire fighting are not at all adequate, in fact,
no where near! "Failure to develop a coordinated and holistic fire science will
dramatically slow efforts to adapt to changing fire regimes and mange fire" (Bowman
481). Very little is really known about fires, and how to fight them. Some fires, can be
snuffed out before they become a real threat, and others spread so fast, that the threat of a
fatal outcome, outweigh the decision to fight the fire. It becomes more about evacuation
and reducing damage, than actually trying to stop the fires progression. Wild fires can
very quickly grow out of control due to increases in temperature in our atmosphere,
which in turn heat the ground and dry up roots amongst other things, leaving a plethora of
wildfire fuel waiting to be burnt and therefore kick start the wildfire into a massive
conflagration.

Scientists have gathered a large amount of data regarding prehistoric wildfires

using carbon dating. "Excavating plant fossils during the last days of the dinosaurs, we
found some preserved with copious amounts of fossilized charcoal and others with out it"
(Jenna Icaurei). Combustion can occur when the oxygen content in the atmosphere
reaches a specific percentage. In this case, "thirteen percent is the minimum to make
ignition favorable" (John Upton). Fossilized charcoal indicates that some time 420
million years ago, wildfires began and this coincides with the arrival of terrestrial plant

life (Bowman 482). During this time oxygen was thought to exceed thirty percent in the
atmosphere, "making even moist vegetation flammable" (Bowman 482.) Some very
amazing advancements in technology today, can show us how wildfires behaved back
then, and can even shed some light on how the vegetation renewed itself over time. It's
common knowledge that in today's forests, tree roots are not usually damaged or
destroyed in a wildfire; meaning that the nutrients in the soil combined with the new
particles from the blaze, will potentially allow a new forest to flourish. As it turns out,
things as simple as this don't change over 420 million years. In fact, some of the same
genus of trees existed back then, as they do today, but what do we know about the
frequency of these wildfires?

The graph above both predicts, and shows a record of past fires globally. More
specifically, lets take a look at the timeframe of 1922 - 1970. The red line that is very
hastily increasing, is showing a massive increase in wildfires across millions of acres,
furthermore, the chart is also claiming an increase in the future. Famous wildfires from
Heavens' Peak fire, Black water Fire, and even the Rattlesnake Fire of 1953, are all major
contributors to the increase on the chart, and there are a myriad of others. Researchers
today are claiming that last years sudden surge in wildfires is attributed to the global
climate dilemma.

"44 percent of the forest area that burned during the three decades analyzed,
burned because of the effects of global warming. The finding was an estimate, with the
researchers concluding global warming likely drove between 6 million acres and 16
million acres of forest fire" (John Upton). Research is being conducted today that
suggests that climate change and global warming, (while not being the primary cause of
most fires) are definitely a contributing factor.

Another interesting hypothesis that is being tested, is a very ironic and

paradoxical statement. That the increase in fire quantity as well as an increase in intensity
could be directly related to fire safety. You see, in today's time, we are so focused on
predicting and preventing fires, that when one could start we make sure that doesn't
happen. That's getting in the way of mother natures course of action. Mother nature has a
plan for everything with balance in mind at all times. Preventing these fires from starting
is actually contributing to the influx of fires. Leaving behind un-burnt fodder and fire
safety hazards, so when a fire actually does start, its huge and often times fatal and
uncontrollable!

It's a common misconception to claim that the increase in wildfires does not
directly contribute to the increase in poor air quality. Where there is fire, there is smoke
and although it may look cool, and often times to many individuals even smell euphoric.
Smoke is extremely harmful if inhaled in abnormal quantities. Smoke is primarily made

up of air, gases and complex particles that attribute to the organic matter that has recently
been burned. Yes, this means that if the fire burns something aside from forests, like
houses, or cars, the smoke is all that more dangerous because this foreign matter is
literally going inside your lungs and getting lodged in there for an unseen amount of time.

Wildfires can also effect our atmosphere in a couple of different ways. When
these fires are burning out of control, they release an enormous amount of greenhouse
gasses, specifically carbon dioxide. There are other harmful substances that get released
as well, aerosol and soot get sent into the atmosphere, which in turn alters the way that
the light from the sun gets reflected, therefore increasing the solar radiation most
noticeably in the areas where heavy snowfall exists.

Greenhouse gases carry the potential to last an insane amount of time in the
atmosphere, while the smoke from fires can last somewhere between six and seven days.
According to David Bowman, "A fire is a feature of our planet, high levels of fire activity
have the capacity to change climate" (Bowman 484). David claims that large amount of
greenhouse gasses that now exist in the atmosphere can have dramatic weather changing
properties as well. Eight out of twenty nine identified climate fabrication agents are
caused by wildfires and their emissions.

Summing up, the surge in wildfires can be attributed to the increase in greenhouse
gasses, and of course over the last few decades the fires have increased, and are expected
to keep to that trend. Although nature has started fires in the past, around 90% of them

are actually caused by human error. There have been many history-worthy fires that have
taken thousands of lives, and in some cases, the smoke can be the ghostly-assassin. With
the use of carbon dating, we are claiming that fires can be credited with destruction long
before our conception, and it's important to remember that wildfires are a natural disaster.
Although we can do only so much in preventing disasters, nature will always take its
course, its best to be on guard and have an emergency plan in place for you, and your
family.

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Resources
Cohen, J. (2004, February 11). Retrieved December 02, 2016, from
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778688.html
How Smoke from Fires Can Affect Your Health. (2003, May). Retrieved December 02,
2016, from https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=smoke.index
Nelson, B. (2016, June/July). 10 of the worst wildfires in U.S. history. Retrieved
December 02, 2016, from http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wildernessresources/stories/10-of-the-worst-wildfires-in-us-history
"Trial by Fire: Early Forest Service Rangers' Fire Stories," by Timothy Cochrane,
from Forest & Conservation History, January 1991: 16-23.
U.S. Forest Service Fire Suppression. (n.d.). Retrieved December 02, 2016, from
http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Policy/Fire/Suppression/Suppression.aspx
Icaurei, J. (2014, September 06). Prehistoric Fire Fossils Shed Light on Wildfires During
the Dino Era. Retrieved December 04, 2016, from
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/7451/20140606/prehistoric-fire-fossils-shedlight-on-wildfires-during-the-dino-era.htm
"Will The West Ever Be Able To Live With Fire?" Climate Central: A Science & News
Organization. John Upton, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.