Warming fueled the hot, dry, windy weather that gave rise to a spate of record-breaking fires in South Korea in March, an analysis finds.
Warming fueled the hot, dry, windy weather that gave rise to a spate of record-breaking fires in South Korea in March, an analysis finds.
While wildfires are common in the spring, this year saw the largest and deadliest blazes on record in South Korea. Fires burned through 180 square miles of land, more than doubling the previous record, and killed 32 people.
The weeks leading up to the fire were marked by meager rainfall and uncommonly high heat. When fires broke out, temperatures were more than 10 degrees C (18 degrees F) above average. The new analysis, from World Weather Attribution, found that warming made the fire-friendly weather conditions twice as likely and 15 percent more intense. As warming sets the stage for more severe fires, authors said, officials must look at ways to limit risk.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Image: A false-color image of South Korean forest scorched by wildfires in March. (Credit: NASA)
