Satellite photos show severe damage in US’ record 2020 wildfire season

Washington, Dec 4 : Satellite photos have revealed severe damages caused by the record wildfire season this year in the US states of California and Colorado, a new study said, adding that the “high severity” infernos might create bleak, barren landscapes in the future.
“As more area burns at high severity, the likelihood of conversion to different forest types or even to non-forest increases,” Xinhua news agency quoted the author of the study, Sean Parks, a research ecologist with the US Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS).
In the study “Warmer and Drier Fire Seasons Contribute to Increases in Area Burned at High Severity in Western US Forests From 1985-2017”, which was published on the RMRS’s website, researchers tried to draw correlations between heat and fire intensity with potential forest regrowth.
Using satellite imagery, the study has received international attention, as the duo analyzed “high severity” burn areas over a 35-year period in America’s West for the first time.
Those fires are more likely to significantly impact forest ecosystems, human safety and infrastructure, said Parks.
The 2020 fire season is finally winding down as snow has blanketed Colorado and cooler temperatures in California, however, data shows that the damage has already been done.