North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperatures May Exacerbate Western US Fire Season - Mercury News

[hatrack]

Researchers predict a decades-long increase in widespread fires across the Western United States in the coming years, based on a new study that reviews the link between sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean and the ferocity of wildfire seasons in the West.

Although scientists often cite the regional impacts of fluctuating Pacific Ocean temperatures -- the El Niño/La Niña effect -- a new look back across 500 years' worth of wildfire history shows a different trend: Warmer surface temperatures in the North Atlantic translated to worse wildfire seasons on the West Coast.

The Atlantic Ocean is entering its next warm phase, scientists note. And global warming will exacerbate the trend.

The findings are being published this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. The research was led by Thomas Kitzberger of the Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina and scientists at the University of Colorado and the University of Arizona. ``More than any other study, this really shows how the El Niño/La Niña cycle influences where fires occur,'' said Christopher Field, biology professor at Stanford University who managed the article's peer review for the journal.

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