Fort McMurray-like wildfires more common as Earth warms

MISSOULA -- Wildfires like the one that nearly overran Fort McMurray could become much more common, according to work published by two University of Montana researchers.

Warming trends over the past 30 years show that about 30 percent of the forest and tundra areas of Alaska will see four times as much fire activity by mid-century, associate professor Philip Higuera and affiliate scientist Adam Young say. Their paper on high-latitude fire regimes was published in the journal Ecography.

Read the Independent Record story - “Far-north fires likely to grow as climate warms, UM researchers warn.”