Alaska's active fire season is expected to get worse


More than 530 wildfires have been reported in Alaska so far this fire season, burning an area the size of Connecticut, and the worst is likely to come.
One death has been linked to the fires; a pilot delivering equipment to firefighters died after his helicopter crashed. While not much property has been damaged, the smoke is causing extremely unhealthy air quality, with two fires in the southwestern part of the state sending smoke hundreds of miles north to Nome. "I would never have thought you could get that poor of air quality back 400 miles from the active fires, and that is a testament to how hot those fires were," Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska's International Arctic Research Center, told The Associated Press.
Alaska's worst fire year on record was 2004, and forecasters estimate that this summer will have similar conditions. That year, there was rain in July, but as the summer went on, there were higher temperatures, low humidity, and a lot of lightning. By the end of the fire season, 10,156 square miles had burned.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wildfires in Alaska clean out low-lying debris, renew animal and plant habitats, and thin out trees, AP says, so when they are in unpopulated areas, officials typically let the fires burn themselves out. In the state, more than half of all wildfires are started by lightning strikes, and so far this year, that's how nearly every fire has been triggered.
Due to early snow melt and a lack of rain in June, the duff layer that blankets the floors of boreal forests and the tundra has dried out. "There's been a significant increase in the amount of fuel available, and that's from decades of warmer springs and summers in the region, direct result of a warming climate," Thoman told AP. "And, of course, fires with more fuels available burn hotter. They burn longer. They're more resistant to changes in weather." Read more at The Associated Press
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Gavin Newsom mulls California redistricting to counter Texas gerrymandering
TALKING POINTS A controversial plan has become a major flashpoint among Democrats struggling for traction in the Trump era
-
6 perfect gifts for travel lovers
The Week Recommends The best trip is the one that lives on and on
-
How can you get the maximum Social Security retirement benefit?
the explainer These steps can help boost the Social Security amount you receive
-
Melting glaciers may lead to more volcanic eruptions
Under the radar We're in for a boom
-
Wildfires destroy historic Grand Canyon lodge
Speed Read Dozens of structures on the North Rim have succumbed to the Dragon Bravo Fire
-
Europe's heatwave: the new front line of climate change
In the Spotlight How will the continent adapt to 'bearing the brunt of climate change'?
-
Search for survivors continues after Texas floods
Speed Read A total of 82 people are confirmed dead, including 28 children
-
How carbon credits and offsets could help and hurt the climate
The explainer The credits could be allowing polluters to continue polluting
-
This Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be above average
Under the radar Prepare for strong storms in the coming months
-
Why men have a bigger carbon footprint than women
Under the Radar 'Male identity' behaviours behind 'gender gap' in emissions, say scientists
-
Why the weather keeps getting 'stuck'
In the Spotlight Record hot and dry spring caused by 'blocked' area of high pressure above the UK