December 5, 2012
UCI scientist uses NASA data to find agriculture is a top cause of fires
Wildfire risk will grow due to climate change, new research finds, but unhealthy controlled burns for farming are the leading type of blaze in the U.S. UC Irvine Earth system scientist Hsiao-Wen Lin found that such fires have increased by 30% nationally in the past decade, mostly in the south. Thanks to stricter air pollution regulations, California, Oregon and Washington have slashed their agricultural burn rates though.