![]() Research in the western United States suggests a direct correlation between milder wintertime temperatures and fewer beetle mortalities. Lodgepole pines in this area of Colorado have been decimated by bark beetle infestations. This fire hit especially close to home for us, as my wife’s family owns a cabin a few miles outside of the final fire perimeter. Of particular interest is the East Troublesome Fire, which ignited on Octoin a remote area of Grand County, Colorado, north of Hot Sulphur Springs. Prior to 2002, Colorado had never had a fire larger than 100,000 acres. All three of Colorado’s largest wildfires occurred in 2020, as well as its first 200,000 acre fire, the Cameron Peak Fire. In 2020, Colorado experienced its worst wildfire season in recorded history. With the worst wildfire season in recorded history hitting Colorado in 2020, I found myself wondering: How sustainable is life in the arid western United States as the deleterious effects of climate change worsen? Colorado’s Historic Wildfire Season I’ve lived in Denver, Colorado for the last five years, and have already directly observed the impacts of climate change here: greater temperature extremes, more severe droughts, larger wildfires and extended wildfire seasons (driven by increased proliferation of the bark beetle), increased evapotranspiration, and declining flows in rivers head-watered in Colorado. As a geoscientist, I’ve long been interested in the impact climate change will have on my life, and the life of my future children.
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