"In the early 20th century, fires were typically of low intensity, easier to manage and extinguish, primarily consuming underbrush while leaving larger trees unharmed. In fact, fire played a crucial role in forest ecology, aiding in the natural cycle of regeneration and maintenance of healthy woodlands.
Today, the fires are absolute monsters. They can’t be stopped by humans."
I recall reading this in the mid 1970s. At the time, the blame was attached to forest management practices - total suppression of all fires had led to dangerous buildup of underbrush and smaller trees, making any fires that did start impossible to stop. One illustration was that the Coast Redwoods had lived for hundreds of years with fires passing through every 5-10 years. However, a century of forest fire suppression had allowed the growth of pines into the lower branches of the redwoods - any fire which started would surely burn down all the trees.
Doesn't increased wildfire danger argue for better forest management, which could be implemented relatively easily and effectively, rather than relying on remaking the global economy, which would be difficult (both technically and politically), expensive, and very long-acting?
Does the smoke from fires increase the energy imbalance or does the smoke as it drifts into upper layers of the atmosphere, play a role of dampening the imbalance?
I am surprised nobody has mentioned wind in any of this. In California we have "red flag days" and those are basically windy days; dry winds from the interior--sometimes called Santa Ana or Sundowners-- being a major culprit in the southern part of the state. Dry brush is important, for sure, and once fires get big enough they can create their own winds, but these monster fires generally don't get out of hand without high winds to fan them. That begs the question, does the warming climate mean higher winds? And higher winds at the worst time of year??
Warmer winters can make a big difference to fire risks too, limiting the opportunities to do fuel reduction burning safely and increasing the labour and equipment requirements, ie costs.
As an Australian living with fire risks, where sub-zero temperatures are limited to some frosty mornings there seems to be a strong relationship between winter overnight temperatures and cool season fire behavior, with the "traditional" method - light a fire on a cool clear evening and expecting it to slow a lot or extinguish itself - appearing to be in part a consequence of cool temperatures laying down a fire suppressing blanket of dew. Warmer temperatures means less dew and frosts - and the result is fires that keep on burning, that even in cool conditions can escape containment and resist efforts to stop them. Some can persist as slow fires for weeks and months in hard to reach places, to emerge as dangerous fires as weather warms.
Another emerging problem is that we relied on a few colder frosts to seasonally kill some of our serious (but cold vulnerable) perennial weeds. Winters without those colder nights allow them to survive without being killed back, allowing them to grow again with a head start.
Hey Andrew! Speaking of the modern gigafires, over on @Fearless Green Rebecca Wisent on January 7th told a very interesting account of how giant grassfires in the Washington Columbia Basin destroyed the habitat of a very rare and endangered species of pygmy rabbits who live there. Well worth reading. Somebody once suggested we call this era the "Pyrocene."
"In the early 20th century, fires were typically of low intensity, easier to manage and extinguish, primarily consuming underbrush while leaving larger trees unharmed. In fact, fire played a crucial role in forest ecology, aiding in the natural cycle of regeneration and maintenance of healthy woodlands.
Today, the fires are absolute monsters. They can’t be stopped by humans."
I recall reading this in the mid 1970s. At the time, the blame was attached to forest management practices - total suppression of all fires had led to dangerous buildup of underbrush and smaller trees, making any fires that did start impossible to stop. One illustration was that the Coast Redwoods had lived for hundreds of years with fires passing through every 5-10 years. However, a century of forest fire suppression had allowed the growth of pines into the lower branches of the redwoods - any fire which started would surely burn down all the trees.
Doesn't increased wildfire danger argue for better forest management, which could be implemented relatively easily and effectively, rather than relying on remaking the global economy, which would be difficult (both technically and politically), expensive, and very long-acting?
Does the smoke from fires increase the energy imbalance or does the smoke as it drifts into upper layers of the atmosphere, play a role of dampening the imbalance?
I am surprised nobody has mentioned wind in any of this. In California we have "red flag days" and those are basically windy days; dry winds from the interior--sometimes called Santa Ana or Sundowners-- being a major culprit in the southern part of the state. Dry brush is important, for sure, and once fires get big enough they can create their own winds, but these monster fires generally don't get out of hand without high winds to fan them. That begs the question, does the warming climate mean higher winds? And higher winds at the worst time of year??
Warmer winters can make a big difference to fire risks too, limiting the opportunities to do fuel reduction burning safely and increasing the labour and equipment requirements, ie costs.
As an Australian living with fire risks, where sub-zero temperatures are limited to some frosty mornings there seems to be a strong relationship between winter overnight temperatures and cool season fire behavior, with the "traditional" method - light a fire on a cool clear evening and expecting it to slow a lot or extinguish itself - appearing to be in part a consequence of cool temperatures laying down a fire suppressing blanket of dew. Warmer temperatures means less dew and frosts - and the result is fires that keep on burning, that even in cool conditions can escape containment and resist efforts to stop them. Some can persist as slow fires for weeks and months in hard to reach places, to emerge as dangerous fires as weather warms.
Another emerging problem is that we relied on a few colder frosts to seasonally kill some of our serious (but cold vulnerable) perennial weeds. Winters without those colder nights allow them to survive without being killed back, allowing them to grow again with a head start.
Hey Andrew! Speaking of the modern gigafires, over on @Fearless Green Rebecca Wisent on January 7th told a very interesting account of how giant grassfires in the Washington Columbia Basin destroyed the habitat of a very rare and endangered species of pygmy rabbits who live there. Well worth reading. Somebody once suggested we call this era the "Pyrocene."