Climate-Fueled Firestorm Incinerates Boulder
A raging urban firestorm fueled by hurricane-force winds incinerated nearly 1,000 homes and structures in and around Boulder, CO in just one day, making it the most destructive wildfire in the state's history. “With CLIMATE CHANGE, there is no FIRE SEASON anymore,” tweeted Mike Nelson, chief meteorologist for Denver7, the city’s ABC affiliate. Climate change, primarily caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, supercharges fires like the Marshall Fire through increased temperatures and exacerbated drought. The blaze, which ignited Thursday, was effectively extinguished by snowfall by the next day. More than 30,000 people were forced to evacuate but just two people were missing as of Monday.
(Washington Post $, Boulder Daily Camera, AP, NPR, AP, NY Mag, NPR, Bloomberg $; Climate Signals background: 2021 Western fire season, Drought)
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