
The risk of wildfires in the United States is expected to increase in the coming years due to climate change, writes National Geographic magazine.
‘As much of the United States will become hotter and drier due to climate change, an increase in the risk of wildfires is expected… More homes and structures are likely to be at risk,’ the publication says.
It is noted that the natural element threatens to wipe out huge areas of land literally in an instant due to its tremendous speed. Allegedly, fire can overtake a person in a matter of minutes. At the same time, the amount of destruction associated with wildfires in the US has increased markedly since the turn of the millennium.
‘Since 2000, an average of 72,400 wildfires have destroyed nearly three million hectares of land in the U.S., twice the amount scorched (territory) in the 1990s,’ the article points out.
The wildfires started spreading heavily in Los Angeles County on 7 January. Meteorologists attribute this to dry and extremely windy weather conditions.
According to the AccuWeather weather observation service, the damage is already estimated at about $150 billion. The houses of many famous Hollywood actors, including Anthony Hopkins, Adam Brody, Anna Faris, Mel Gibson and others, have burned down.