Satellite data acquired on May 13, 2022, shows a flyover of the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon Fire in New Mexico. By May 29, the fire had become the largest in New Mexico history, and was sparked by a prescribed burn. The visualization is below. Tom Yulsman processed the data.
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A New Mexico wildfire that has burned an area more than one and a half times the size of New York City was sparked by prescribed burns.
The news caused a lot of backlash and accusations on social media that climate change was not a factor in the New Mexico fire. Steve Milloy, a prominent climate science denier, had a good example of this. Not global warming.
Global warming doesn't start fires. If humans or lightning start a fire, soils and vegetation that has been dried out by a warming climate are more likely to catch fire and cause a large, raging blaze.
That is not just common sense. Multiple studies show that warmer temperatures and earlier spring snow melt have led to an increase in the number of wildfires in the western United States.
Almost all of the West is in some form of dry weather, and some parts are experiencing extreme to exceptional dry weather. Almost all of New Mexico is included. It should come as no surprise that a small fire could quickly turn into a large one, no matter the cause.
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