By CIRCulator Editorial Staff

Reprinted from: The Climate CIRCulator

Ponderosa pine (orange) and lodgepole pine (red) killed by mountain pine beetle. (Photo Credit: Washington Department of Natural Resources, some rights reserved.)

HERE IN THE NORTHWEST, wildfires and insect outbreaks are two major forest disturbances that we’ve seen a lot of recently. As reported before in the CIRCulator, we are likely to see more wildfires and insect outbreaks in the future as our climate changes. But what has been most concerning is how two disturbances working in tandem could affect both the health of our forests and our economy. It is commonly assumed that future increases in insect outbreaks will lead to future increases in wildfire severity, but, says a new analysis, this assumption might not only be wrong, the exact opposite may actually be true. Continue reading →