| Popis: |
An increasing number of wildfire disasters occurred in recent years in the U.S. Here, we demonstrate that cumulative primary human exposure – population residing within large wildfires’ perimeters – was 594,850 people from 2000-2019 across the Contiguous U.S. (CONUS), 82% of which occurred in the Western U.S. Primary population exposure increased by 125% in CONUS in the past two decades, noting large uncertainty ranges. We show that population dynamics from 2000-2019 alone accounted for 24% of the observed increase rate in human exposure, whereas increased wildfire extent drove a majority of the observed trends. Additionally, we document widespread exposure of roads (412,155 km) and transmission powerlines (14,835 km) to large wildfires in CONUS, with an increased rate of 58% and 70% from 2000-2019, respectively. Our findings highlight the benefits of mitigation and adaptation efforts to help societies cope with wildfires. |
