The most extensive and most expensive forest fire seasons

Recent years have seen the most extensive and most expensive forest fire seasons ever in the American West. The fire season has lengthened by nearly 3 months, and fires have become larger and more intense. They are also more expensive, rising from around $250 million in 1985 to nearly $2.5 billion in 2017. What has caused the changes? A combination of factors, including longer, hotter summers and drought. On top of these is the explosive growth of billions of tiny beetles, the size of a grain of rice, that have been blamed for damaging or destroying nearly 17 million ha (42 million acres) of western forests. All of these factors are a natural part of western ecosystems. The question is, as all of them accelerate with climate change, what will become of the region’s vast forests?