Story Spark: Wildfires

The guide explains how climate change creates conditions for more severe and frequent wildfires in the US, while offering practical reporting tips for journalists to cover the long-term impacts, public health risks, and the role of 'good fire'.

• Climate change exacerbates wildfires by increasing evaporation and drawing moisture from soil and plants, which creates more dry vegetation to serve as fuel. This relationship is cyclical, as fires further contribute to climate change by emitting carbon and destroying natural carbon sinks like forests.
• In the United States, the amount of land burned by wildfires doubled between 1984 and 2015, with the American West and Southwest being particularly vulnerable. In California, ten of the largest wildfires in the state's history occurred within the last 20 years.
• Wildfire smoke represents a significant public health risk, particularly for children with developing lungs, and can affect regions far from the actual fires. For example, smoke from central Canada in 2023 affected the US Atlantic Coast, including New York City and Asheville, N.C.
• Climate change increases the number of simultaneous fires, which may lead to a shortage of resources available to fight them.
• Journalists are advised to cover the broader operational 'war' rather than just the 'battle' at the fireline, to follow Burned Area Emergency Response teams for landscape rehab, and to return to sites months later to report on mudslides or flooding.

APA

Cart, J. (2024). Story Spark: Wildfires. Covering Climate Now. https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-wildfires/

Chicago

Cart, Julie. Story Spark: Wildfires. Covering Climate Now, 2024. https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-wildfires/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cart |first1=Julie |title=Story Spark: Wildfires |publisher=Covering Climate Now |date=27 August 2024 |url=https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-wildfires/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cart2024story, author = {Cart, Julie}, title = {{Story Spark: Wildfires}}, institution = {Covering Climate Now}, year = {2024}, month = aug, url = {https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-wildfires/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }