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Climate change is fueling new wildfire behavior across the West. Instead of slowing down at night as temperatures drop, many wildfires are now growing rapidly overnight. Nighttime temperatures are rising faster than daytime temperatures thanks to human-caused climate change, which has broken down a natural cycle in wildfire behavior.
Kaiwei Luo, a doctoral student at the University of Alberta, authored a recent study that used satellite data to analyze more than 23,000 wildfires between 2017 and 2020 in North America. Less than two percent of those fires were active enough to be seen overnight. But of those nighttime fires, almost all of them were larger than 2,400 acres. The study found overnight burns tend to happen consecutively, within the first few days of ignition, which means less time for early intervention by fire crews trying to protect houses and people.
“We might need to consider a firefighting model that operates around the clock,” Luo told the New York Times.
A number of wildfires burning across the West this week have displayed this overnight behavior. The Lake fire near Santa Barbara quickly grew to nearly 30,000 acres, burning overnight since Friday. Fires are also burning in southern and central Oregon, and southern Utah.
The “most important water right” on the Colorado
Officials in western Colorado are hoping the federal government will help fund a $99 million deal to purchase rights to one million acre-feet of water on the Colorado River, some of the most senior water rights in the state. The 115-year-old Shoshone Generating Station in Glenwood Springs will likely be retired in the coming years, and river managers want to ensure that the water that flows through the dam will stay in the river forever.
Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, told E&E News "I can't find an example in the American West where a community has come together to purchase a water right that is so significant. We're not buying it so we can divert it and use it. We're buying it to keep it in the river and keep the river alive."
The district has raised $54 million toward the purchase so far, and is hoping the Interior Department will provide funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to secure the water rights.
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For a long time, I think trails programs have gotten lucky with a workforce that shows up, is really hard working, and doesn’t expect much pay. Now, because we’re getting to a point where the price of living is so expensive, we can’t really rely on those folks anymore.”
