Headline
Climate change and the catastrophic wildfire
United States
Diverse meadow post fire in Bald Eagle State Forest. Credit: Nicholas A. Tonelli creative commons license
In the United States, the wildfire season is now two months longer than it was 100 years ago...Climate change has and will continue to increase the severity and frequency of ecological disturbance due to fire. Beyond this, climate change is also affecting natural species distributions and exotic species invasions. The co-occurrence of increased fire due to climate change and increased invasions due to climate change may sometimes be disastrous. In western North America, pine bark beetles are ravaging populations of pine trees across several mountain ranges.
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