© U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Trees engulfed in flames at the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
So far this year, more acres of land have burned as of mid-September than the total annual amount in 2011, which was the 4th worst year for wildfires at least since the 1960s. So will this year be the new fourth worst, third worst, second worst, or worst wildfire year since then? Read on, and take a guess.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, publishes a ton of useful statistics on wildfires that are critical for helping state and federal agencies manage the flames. These records date back to the 1960s.
The chart below, created with the National Interagency Fire Center data, shows that the worst years for wildfires in the U.S., since these records began being kept, were 2006 (9,873,745 acres burned), 2007 (9,328,045 acres burned), 2012 (9,326,238 acres burned), 2011 (8,711,367 acres burned), and 2005 (8,689,389 acres burned).
© D. E. Conners, EarthSky.Annual amount of land burned by wildfires in the U.S.
Already as of September 18, 2015, 8,821,040 acres of land have burned across the U.S., and this number exceeds the total number of acres burned for 2011. Hence, 2015 has already earned a spot as the 4th worst year on record, and the 2015 wildfire season is still going strong.
Comment: All over the world we are witnessing extensive wildfires, which in some regions have been described as "unprecedented". The National Interagency Fire Center has described the 2015 wildfire season in the United States as a record breaker.
A record 52 percent of the U.S. Forest Service's budget was dedicated to fighting wildfires this year, compared to 16 percent in 1995. Two massive wildfires that burned up parts of Northern California did nearly $2 billion in damage according to one insurance company.
Could some of these wildfires have been fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes and other 'cosmic' ignition sources? See also:
Study: Wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth