Linnia Rose Hawkins Anthropogenic climate change has already increased the likelihood of extreme fire weather in the western United States during autumn. Increased autumn fuel aridity and warmer temperatures during dry wind events increased the likelihood of extreme fire weather by 40%, according to a recent study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters (Hawkins et…
Category: Fire
How the 2020 wildfires shaped Oregonians’ behavior and policy support
Hilary Boudet, Leanne Giordono, Muhammad Usman Amin Siddiqi, Greg Stelmach, Chad Zanocco, and June Flora One year ago, we reported on initial findings from a survey of Oregonians that we conducted in the wake of the September 2020 wildfires. The survey was administered from 28 December, 2020, through 23 February, 2021, to a sample of…
Synchronous fires and fire danger challenge US capacity to respond
John Abatzoglou, Alison Cullen, and Susan Prichard The 2021 fire season has coincided with yet another hot, dry summer. As of 17 September, 2021, a total of 2.5 million acres (1.01 million ha) had burned in the Northwest (defined here as Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana), including the Bootleg fire in southern Oregon, which burned…
Oregonians’ Views on the 2020 Wildfires and Climate Change
Sociologist Hilary Boudet and her team share their research on how Oregonians were affected by the 2020 wildfire season Hilary Boudet, Rachel Mooney, Leanne Giordono, and Greg Stelmach The impacts of the 2020 wildfires that affected much of the Pacific Northwest and western United States far exceeded those in recent memory. The fires burned more…
Historic Droughts and Fires: A Recap of the 2020 Water Year in Oregon and Washington and the 2021 Outlook
The year 2020 has been exceptional in many ways, and that extends to the water year (1 October 2019 – 30 September 2020). On October 28 and 29, scientists, resource managers, and planners convened virtually for the Water Year 2020 Recap and 2021 Outlook meeting. This highly collaborative event was sponsored by the National Integrated…
Climate Enabling Conditions and Drivers of the Western Oregon Wildfires of 2020
Climatologists John Abatzoglou, David Rupp, and Larry O’Neill break down the forces that enabled Oregon’s historic fires in September 2020 John Abatzoglou, David Rupp, and Larry O’Neill Over half an inch of rain fell over Salem, Oregon, and much of western Oregon, on September 18. In most years this ordinary rainfall event would not have…
The Climate CIRCulator 