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Wildfire Risk Increase

Climate change has increased wildfire risk through warmer temperatures and drier conditions that lengthen wildfire season, increase the chances of a fire starting, and help a burning fire spread. Warmer and drier conditions also contribute to the spread of the mountain pine beetle and other insects that can weaken or kill trees, building up the fuels in a forest.

Scientists have observed a significant increasing trend in the number of large fires and the total area burned per year in the United States. In the West, anthropogenic climate change has been directly linked to drier conditions and increases in forest fire activity.[1][2][3][4]

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