Wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest has entered its high season, and is expected to be worse than usual due to the continuing drought conditions in the region. Here are a few stories about the current season and the terrifying season that Alaska is experiencing this year.
Cliff Mass of the University of Washington posted a blog article with some pictures of the effects of smoke on visibility in the Seattle region at https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/07/smoke-and-low-clouds.html.
EDENotes posted an article earlier in July which described some of the impacts of the PNW fires on residents and businesses in the region. One fruit-packing facility was destroyed by the flames.
The Washington Post published a story about the tremendous number of forest fires which have exploded over Alaska this year, covering an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Climatologists point out that Alaska’s temperature has increased by over 3 F in the last fifty years, much faster than any other part of the United States, and attribute the changes that are leading to the increases in wildfires at least in part to that trend.
