Global Warming Linked To Forest Fires

"Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Arizona examined 34 years of forest fire reports in 11 Western states and found the number of fires increased in size and severity since 1987, the same year that spring and summer temperatures began to rise.

'It's a very good snapshot of what's been happening in the Western forests over the past three decades,' said lead author Anthony Westerling, a fire climatologist at UC Merced."

"Forestry officials have debated for years whether climate change or forest management policies have been contributing more to the recent conflagrations in the Western forests."