Is Your Home At Risk Of Wildfire In A Changing Climate? 6 Questions To Ask
More and more Americans now live in wildfire-prone landscapes and have no idea of the perils they face. Here's how to find out.
Bigger and more destructive wildfires are on the rise in the U.S., driven in great part by a changing climate. More than 40 million Americans live in high-risk zones because towns have increasingly expanded into fire-prone landscapes. Even if a home seems far from forests or grasslands, wildfires can easily spread into towns and suburbs, as thousands of homeowners in the West have experienced recently in deadly fires.
Wildfires are a natural ecological process affecting American landscapes, but the warming climate increases the risk of bigger, more destructive blazes. Hotter temperatures dry out vegetation, making it more susceptible to burning.
