EBS STAFF
A study from the University of Montana has shown that fire suppression may contribute to more extreme and severe wildfires later on. According to reporting by UM News on the College of Forestry and Conservation, the study used computer simulations to show the impact of wildfire suppression.
The researchers found that suppressing all wildfires leads to more severe fires, with increases in burned area, even more than what impacts from fuel accumulation and climate change could cause.
“Fire suppression exacerbated the trends already caused by climate change and fuel accumulation, the study found, causing areas burned to increase three to five times faster over time relative to a world with no suppression,” UM News writes.
The findings show that allowing small to medium burns to happen could lead to a reversal of impacts on the environment and help reduce the likelihood of severe fires from using unused fuel.
UM professor Dr. Kreider led the study as a part of his Ph.D. dissertation, alongside support from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
