Aug. 7, 2009 -- As the climate gets warmer and dryer, forest fires will become as much as three times more common in parts of the American West. As a result, air quality will suffer, and so will our ability to breathe, found a new study. This was the first study to look at just how bad the air is going to get as wildfires rage into the future. As the nation struggles to tackle other assaults on the atmosphere, the new research emphasizes the need to focus on preventing flames, too. "The EPA sets standards for what comes out of the tail of a car or a power plant," said Jennifer Logan, an atmospheric chemist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. "You can't control what comes out of a forest fire once it starts." Even as forest fires seem to be appearing more often in media reports, scientists only began documenting the extent of the trend in the last few years. Records now show that, in the western United States, the amount of area burned annually by fires was more than six times higher between 1987 and 2003 than it was between 1970 and 1986. Increases have also been documented in Canada and Alaska. Related Content:
Scientists know that burning wood and underbrush spews gasses and particles into the air that are pushed around by winds. Those particles can irritate lungs but are especially dangerous to people who have trouble breathing as a result of asthma and other chronic conditions. Figuring out just how much pollution a fire emits, however, is complicated. The relationship depends on the types of wood involved, how hot the air is, how much fuel is lying around on the ground and more. The researchers looked at 25 years' worth of fire records to first quantify how big a fire will become given weather-based factors like temperature and humidity. Using standard climate models to project the future, they estimated that by the 2050s, fires could burn 80 percent more area in the Pacific Northwest. In the Rocky Mountains, fires could burn 175 percent more land, they reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Overall, an average of 50 percent more area could burn across the American West. Get More NewsSpiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest CreaturesMany creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing DuetsWhite-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates.Oldest Hebrew Writing Possibly FoundAncient inscriptions on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard could make history.Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.A tuatara has been spotted on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in 200 years.Iceman Has No Living RelativesOetzi, the 5,300 year-old frozen mummy, left no living genetic legacy.SLIDE SHOW: Landscapes of TerrorWhat makes a place feel scary? There are scientific explanations.It's Official: People Are Warming the PolesHumans are conclusively to blame for polar warming, say scientists.Eight-Armed Animal Preceded DinosaursWhat may be one of Earth's first animals was no bigger than a coaster and had eight arms.Phoenicians Live on in People's GenesOne in 17 Mediterranean men may be descended from ancient Phoenicians.Pesticides, Fertilizers Linked to Frog DeclineA pesticide is found to promote parasites among amphibians.Hubble Telescope Taking Photos AgainThe Hubble Space Telescope is once again snapping stunning photos of the universe.Andean Mummy Hairs Show Hallucinogen UseScientists find direct evidence of hallucinogenic drug use among ancient Andeans.Opals on Mars Reveal Planet's Long Wet PastOpals found on Mars suggest the planet has been wet for much longer. |
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