U.S. Wildfires
The increase in damage
in recent years is due to
population growth
in vulnerable areas,
and poor forest
management.
The National Interagency
Fire Center has recorded
the number of fires
and acreage affected
since 1985.
These data show
the number of fires
trending down slightly,
although the
acreage burned
had increased,
before leveling off
over the last 20 years.
The NWS tracks
the number of days
where conditions
are conducive
to wildfires,
when they issue
"red-flag warnings".
It is little changed.
2017 was an
active fire year
in the U.S. , with
64,610 fires,
the most
since 2012.
The number of deaths,
and structures destroyed,
is related to population
growth, such as the
seven-fold increase of the
California population,
from 1930 to 2018.
Lightning and campfires
caused most historic fires;
today most are the result
of downed power lines
igniting trees.
The power lines
have increased
proportionately
with the population,
and homes being built
in, or closer to, forests.
Most of the damage
from wild fires
in California
is a result of
the increased
population,
and poor forest
management.
Wildfires do not
start because the
average temperaure
has gone up a few
tenths of a degree !