Changes

What has changed is that since 2000, the scale of wildfires has now become far larger. In 2000, about 300,000 acres burned in total in the state of California. By 2018, the total was almost 2 million acres. To date, the 2020 wildfires have consumed about 4 million acres, about the size of Connecticut, making this year the worst since historical records began. The August Complex fire, burning between San Francisco and Oregon, has consumed more than 1 million acres alone. The most likely factors causing this trend is the fact the fire seasons is now historically longer than it was over the 20th century, when fires were relatively small. Additionally, many trees have also died over multi-year droughts, causing a larger fire hazard as dead trees are not cleared or left standing in forests. Fires have generally become less deadly, as warning systems have improved, although increased urbanization has also meant that fires can be more destructive, at least financially, than they have been historically. Overall, about 800,000 acres burn annually on average over the last 20 years.