Heat waves increase the West’s wildfire risk A new study found that 42% all the area burned by Western fires had occurred during or right after a heat wave. Dmitri Kalashn

Heat waves increase the West’s wildfire risk A new study found that 42% all the area burned by Western fires had occurred during or right after a heat wave. Dmitri Kalashn https://www.hcn.org/articles/heat-waves-increase-the-wests-wildfire-risk/?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=6d0033ed27-nature-briefing-daily-20260622&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 Heat waves mean fire: here’s why “We expected a big impact, but the numbers still surprised us,” write wildfire and climate researchers Dmitri Kalashnikov, Cong Yin, Madhulika Gurazada and Mukesh Kumar. Their research found that only a small fraction of ‘warm-season’ days in the western United States count as heat waves, which the team define as three or more consecutive days with temperatures in the top tenth of hottest days. But a huge chunk of the area burned by fires was affected during or immediately after a heat wave. It turns out that heat waves not only create tinder-dry fuel sources, they also limit fire-suppressing humidity at night and promote lightning that can ignite vegetation.