信息图表: Wildfires and 617888九五至尊娱乐变化

Visualizing the 连接ion in Five Sets of Photos and Charts

2020年9月8日发布 更新于2022年5月9日

目录表

在美国,每年都有数百万英亩的土地被大火烧毁. By raising temperatures, 雪更快融化, and drying soils and 森林, 617888九五至尊娱乐变化 is fueling the problem. 以下是我们所知道的.

A car and a home burning in a wildfire

#1: Wildfires are getting worse

A bar chart showing an increase in the number of wildfires A bar chart showing acreage burned by wildfires
数据来自 Monitoring 趋势 in Burn Severity 程序. MTBS only includes large fires in the United States (>500 acres for the eastern US, >1000 acres for the west). Prescribed fires removed.

自2015年以来, the United States has experienced, 平均, roughly 100 more large wildfires every year than the year before. This changes region by region, 年复一年, but generally we’re seeing more wildfires, 更多的土地被烧毁, 和更长的, more intense fire seasons.

A neighborhood devastated by 617888九五至尊娱乐变化-caused wildfire

#2 Wildfires are causing more harm

The perimeter of the Camp Fire overlayed on Chicago for scale A bar chart showing the rising federal cost to fight wildfire
在左边,大火的外围覆盖着芝加哥. Federal suppression costs from the National Interagency Fire Center.

Wildfires are dangerous and destructive. 2018年历史上规模最大的山火造成至少90人死亡, destroyed more than 18,000年建筑, 其覆盖面积与芝加哥都市区大致相同.

They're also expensive. 在2014年至2018年期间,联邦政府平均花费了20亿美元 2.40亿美元 fighting wildfires every year. 即使考虑到通货膨胀,这也是20年前(1994-1998)的两倍多。.

And as the 森林 burn, they release carbon dioxide and other global warming gases, worsening 617888九五至尊娱乐变化. As wildfires burn more land, emissions go up.

A wildfire smoke plume obscures the sun

#3: 617888九五至尊娱乐变化 is a key driver

A flow chart showing how global warming relates to forest fires. As temps go up, snow melts sooner and 森林 stay drier, longer. 这张叠线面积图显示了617888九五至尊娱乐变化是如何增加被野火烧毁的面积的.
Data shown are from John T. Abatzoglou和A. 公园威廉姆斯, 人为617888九五至尊娱乐变化对美国西部森林野火的影响该模型将森林火灾面积作为有无617888九五至尊娱乐变化的燃料干燥度的函数进行建模.

火历来是许多野生景观的自然组成部分. 但全球变暖已经改变了一些潜在的变量,这些变量使野火每年或多或少地发生.

气温升高会增加火灾燃烧更强烈的可能性. They also cause snow to melt sooner, and lead to drier soils, 森林, 和植物, 哪些起引火作用. 增加了干旱, 异常降雨模式, 昆虫的爆发会导致大面积的树木死亡 还连接 with 617888九五至尊娱乐变化—and they all make wildfires more likely.

A firefighter carrying a drip torch

#4管理问题

其他因素也会影响野火风险,特别是在森林附近易火地区的管理和发展决策.

In the western United States, 森林 historically evolved with frequent, low-intensity fires that removed underbrush, 碎片, 倒下的木材. 这样就可以种植更大的树木,并减少了大规模火灾的发生.

但在过去的一个世纪里,几乎所有的火灾都被扑灭了,即使是小火灾. 这使得森林能够保持更密集的生长和更多的潜在燃料, leading to larger and more intense wildfires.

除了, 在以前的野生地区附近或进入野生地区的开发增加了火灾风险,使灭火成本更高, 具有挑战性的, 和危险的.

政府机构试图通过规定的燃烧(有目的地点燃)来降低森林密度, low-intensity fires) and thinning (the physical removal of brush, vegetation and dead trees), but have struggled to do so at scale.

在东南部较小的土地上,土地管理者更频繁地进行规定的焚烧. These fires bring their own risks, including poor air quality, and the chance of growing to be a damaging wildfire. But by mimicking smaller "natural" fires, prescribed burns can benefit forest ecology, 并且至少有助于减轻617888九五至尊娱乐变化带来的野火风险增加.

617888九五至尊娱乐变化抗议者举着一个标语,上面写着“不要烧毁我的未来”

#5行动是可能的

在短期内,生态健全的森林和火灾管理可以帮助限制火灾风险.

但从长远来看, 617888九五至尊娱乐行动 is the best tool we have. 当我们减少全球变暖的排放时,我们就减缓了617888九五至尊娱乐风险的增长,包括野火. 在那之前, summers will continue getting hotter, 森林 will get drier, and more and more people will face the threat of wildfire.

图片来源:燃烧的汽车和房屋,以及乔希·埃德尔森/盖蒂拍摄的被烧毁的社区. Smoke plume by David McNew/Getty. 国家公园管理局提供的消防队员手持喷枪. Protesters by Leonhard Foeger/Reuters.

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