Recent years have seen the largest, most destructive wildfires on record in California. Accompanying these extreme events have been extreme levels of evaporative demand—the degree to which the atmosphere “wants” to evaporate water from plants and the ground, regardless of how much water is available.
A new analysis of global climate model simulations by McEvoy et al. suggests that evaporative demand will increase in California and Nevada through the end of the century, driving increased risk of more extreme wildfires and drought.
High evaporative demand—a “thirstier” atmosphere—can boost wildfire danger by drying out vegetation and making it more flammable. Previous research has explored how climate change will affect fire risk in the California-Nevada region, but the specific influences of future changes in evaporative demand have been unclear.