Increasing Forest Fire Activity

Watercolor and Colored Pencil, 2015

I created a series about some of the major impacts of global warming that I witnessed in Washington State this summer, using scientific data to show how the drought is devastating the state.

Increasing Forest Fire Activity uses global temperature rise information. Fortunately, I was not near any of the massive forest fires that raged before, during, and after my two weeks in Washington summer 2015, but I was greeted with many smoke-filled days. On some days, when the winds blew from the fire toward us, the smell and taste of the smoke overpowered my senses, even though the fire was about 100 miles away. As temperatures increase, and drought and drier than average conditions persist, forest fires become a huge threat to the forest, plants, animals—and of course to people and structures.

Reference: http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/rise-in-global-temperatures-since-1880