Climate Change, Society, and the Rise of the Mega-fires in the Southwest US

Southwestern megafires are alternately described as a bellwether of Global Warming or a cautionary tale of human mismanagement of ecosystems. Historical ecological analysis, however, implicates both land-use and climate change in the rise of the megafires. Recent research suggests that human-fire-climate couplings need not necessarily produce such runaway positive feedbacks. Interdisciplinary archaeological, ethnographic, paleoecological, and simulation projects explore the role of human activities in ignition and fuel patterns that can enhance or suppress climate-driven feedbacks in these fire prone forests.