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This record warmth accompanied by the intense drought has sparked what might be the worst wildfire season yet. The National Interagency Fire Center reported that already more than 7.1 million acres has been burned in the U.S., which is the first time in 20 years that the area charred has exceeded 7 million acres by this date. The fires out West have become so bad that interactive maps of the wildfires make it appear that the entire West is just on fire, especially Alaska where, at one point, there were at least 300 active fires burning.
Earlier this week, an astronaut took a photo of the wildfires from space:
Thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the wildfires in the Northwest. pic.twitter.com/q6yqb697bN — Kjell Lindgren (@astro_kjell) August 17, 2015
And climate change won’t just bring drought, heat waves and fire, as if that wasn’t bad enough. Heavy downpours, stronger storms and flooding are all on the rise due to climate change. Extreme weather will be the “new climate normal,” according to the World Bank.
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