People strongly influence the likelihood of fires in forests, grasslands and other ecosystems across the United States and Canada, mostly by lowering fire risks.
People can ignite fires, but can also suppress them by altering properties of the land, for example by removing natural vegetation. To better understand the effects humans have, a team led by Marc-André Parisien of Natural Resources Canada in Edmonton used statistical models to analyse human and natural factors linked to fire probability across both countries between 1984 and 2014. They found an association between human activities and fire — the stronger the human influence, the lower the probability of fire.
Wildfires (pictured) are rarely purely natural, and fire managers should take this into account when considering how fire risks may shift in a warming world, the authors say.
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Humans have a hand in wildfires. Nature 536, 9 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/536009d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/536009d
