Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Fighters From 43 States Battle Far-Flung Texas Wildfires
By DINA FINE MARON of ClimateWire
Published: April 26, 2011
Despite a public call by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to pray for
rain over the weekend, major wildfires continue to rage on across
the state.
Already an estimated 1.5 million acres of Texas has burned this
year, according to the Texas Forest Service. Thunderstorms rolled
through the state over the weekend, but lightning strikes
accompanied the rain, setting the stage for a challenging wildfire
week ahead that will draw upon limited resources.
"Sleepers" -- smoldering embers first ignited by lightning -- are
expected to be picked up by high-speed gusts moving through the
state and set more fires in the next couple days, said Marq Webb,
a spokesman for the Texas Forest Service. Winds are expected to
whip through at about 50 miles per hour.
Firefighters and support workers on loan from 43 states, the
Virgin Islands and a variety of federal agencies worked yesterday
to beat back the flames on four major fires that still cover more
than half a million acres. Perry said the state has responded to
more than 7,000 fires since late December.
As Texas seeks to quash the blazes, it is using almost all of the
U.S. air tankers that are currently available to help fight
wildfires, according to Webb. That includes three heavy air
tankers and four military C-130s. Then, another two air tankers
are on standby in New Mexico, and could be called in for an
emergency response -- if they are not already attending to another
fire, he said.
Weather projections suggest that there will continue to be warm
and dry conditions for the next couple of months in Florida,
southern Georgia, southeastern South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, Arizona and southern Colorado -- meaning those areas
may compete for those same wildfire fighting resources.
Climate change contributes fuel, dryness
With wildfire season gearing up out West, more tankers are
expected to be available. A total of 18 air tankers are scheduled
to be cycled in for use by mid-June, and four more military C-130s
could also be called upon in an emergency.
Severe drought set the stage for these massive wildfires, but the
intense winds and abundant shrubs that grew as a result of last
year's more plentiful rains stirred the pot for Texas and its
surrounding areas (ClimateWire, April 21).
Texas State climatologist John Nielson-Gammon said that while the
Texas fires themselves cannot be attributed to climate change,
global warming likely sparked some of the conditions leading to
the blazes.
"Global warming probably produced a slight enhancement of the
rainfall, leading to a little extra plant growth," he said. "Also,
the warm temperatures during the past couple of months are
probably a degree or two warmer than they would have been without
the rise in global temperatures, thereby increasing the dryness,"
he added.
Nationally, 2.2 million acres had already burned as of yesterday
-- almost double the 10-year national average for this time of
year, which is 829,000 acres, according to National Interagency
Fire Center figures.
"The longer [this weather] lasts, the greater the chances are of
having a dry summer, because there is a feedback between how much
moisture can evaporate from the soil and how many thunderstorms we
can get," said Nielson-Gammon. These conditions could spell
trouble for spring crops and forage for cattle in the summer, he
said.