Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires

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By Calum X. Cunningham et al, Science. 

Excerpt: As climate warms and humans build in more undeveloped environments, the threat of costly wildfire disasters is thought to be increasing. Cunningham et al. examined data about the global distribution, frequency, and associated climate conditions of the most lethal and costly wildfire disasters from 1980 to 2023, finding that disaster risk was highest in regions near relatively affluent, populated areas, and that the frequency of economically disastrous wildfires increased sharply after 2015. They also found that major disasters coincided with extreme climatic conditions. —Jesse Smith... 

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