A weather pattern responsible for increasing wildfires in the western United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15548548 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Wei Zhang (0000-0002-5458-9581, Utah State University, corresponding author), Shih‐Yu Wang (0000-0003-2009-2275, Utah State University), Yoshimitsu Chikamoto (0000-0003-1001-5188, Utah State University), Robert R Gillies (0000-0002-8087-3615, Utah State University), Robert Gillies, Matthew LaPlante (0000-0001-6502-1492, Utah State University), Vittal Hari (0000-0001-8754-0488, Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 014007-014007 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ad928f |
| OpenAlex | W4404367910 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 61 |
The western United States (U.S.) has been experiencing more severe wildfires, in part due to climate change, but the underlying synoptic patterns and their modulation in driving fire weather is unclear. Here we investigated the relationship between weather regimes (WRs) and fire weather indices, specifically vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index. By identifying five singular WRs using k-means clustering, we found that a particular regime (WR-2), one characterized by a distinct tripolar wave train pattern over the continental U.S., has exhibited an increased frequency since 1980. The ascribed WR-2 regime was found to be mainly responsible for rising trends in the fire weather indices, especially VPD. Further, the average fire indices of the WR-2 regime played a more important role than the frequency in shaping the rising trends in the fire weather indices. The increased frequency of the WR-2 WR was mainly attributed to anthropogenic forcing and, the year-to-year variation of the frequency was associated with sea surface temperature anomalies over the subtropical eastern Pacific. Human-induced climate change might have furthered the exacerbation of wildfire danger in the western U.S. by modulating the behaviors of WRs and fire weather indices
Climatology · Geography · Meteorology · Physical geography · Weather modification · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems · Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics · Rangeland and Wildlife Management · Geology
Observed Impacts of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Wildfire in California
Overview of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experimental design and organization
Fire in the Earth System
Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests
Warming and Earlier Spring Increase Western U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity
Large wildfire trends in the western United States, 1984–2011
A Formulation of a Phase-Independent Wave-Activity Flux for Stationary and Migratory Quasigeostrophic Eddies on a Zonally Varying Basic Flow
Anthropogenic warming has increased drought risk in California
The ERA5 global reanalysis
Interannual variability and trends of summertime PM2.5-based air quality in the Intermountain West
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |