Scientists Find Climate-Driven Tree Mortality and Fuel Aridity Increase Wildfire Fuel Availability
Published:04 Jan.2022 Source:University of New Mexico
New research conducted by scientists at The University of New Mexico suggests climate-driven tree mortality and fuel aridity are increasing fuel availability in forests leading to record-breaking wildfires in size, spread and plume formation.
In North America, wildfire activity has been increasing in large part due to climate change, which is increasing the amount of energy stored in biomass that can be released as heat during wildfire. Drought stress, insect outbreaks, and temperature increases have caused large areas of tree mortality and rising temperatures are drying out forest fuels, making them more available to burn. The amount of energy stored in forests that is available for release from fire depends on the amount of water stored in live and dead biomass, which acts as a regulator on the amount and rate of energy release. Fuel moisture of dead biomass is more responsive and fire prone with increasing temperature than live biomass and the combined effects of tree mortality and high temperature could be responsible for the substantial energy release that has characterized modern wildfires.