A study suggests that current trends of expansion of residential areas into wildland vegetation increase the homes' exposure to wildfire risk and the risk of wildfire ignition. The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is defined as the area where residential homes are in or in close proximity to wildland vegetation; wildfires pose the greatest risk to human life in WUIs. Volker C. Radeloff and colleagues examined US Census data from 1990, 2000, and 2010 in conjunction with USGS land cover data to assess changes in the WUI over two decades. WUI area in the coterminous United States grew from 581,000 km2 to 770,000 km2 between 1990 and 2010, representing a growth of 33%. In the same period, the number of houses in the WUI grew by 41%, from 30.8 million homes to 43.4 million homes. Focusing on areas that experienced wildfires between 1990 and 2015, the authors found that those areas contained 286,000 homes in 2010, but only 177,000 homes in 1990. According to the authors, current housing trends are likely to exacerbate the risk of wildfires and their impact on human populations. However, such trends may reflect an affinity for living in natural environments that may serve as an impetus for sustaining wildland ecosystems, according to the authors.
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Article #17-18850: "Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk," by Volker C. Radeloff et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Volker C. Radeloff, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI; tel: 608-263-4349; e-mail: < radeloff@wisc.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences