Blazing Wildfires May Double Soil Erosion by 2050 in Western States

Wildfires have burned trees and homes to the ground across many states in the western U.S. The ground itself, though, has not gotten away unscathed. Researchers have found that increasing wildfires may double soil erosion by 2050.

"It's a pretty dramatic increase in sediment [entering streams]," write Joel Sankey, one of the researchers, and his colleagues, in a news release. "The sediment can have a wide range of effects on a lot of watersheds, many of which are headwater streams and important for water supply in the West."

Wildfires whipping across a landscape can burn away ground cover and vegetation, leaving soils exposed and easily erodible by precipitation. Fires can also cause soil surfaces to harden, which causes rainwater and melted snow to rush across with enough power to erode loose sediments.

In this latest study, the researchers used computer models to simulate future wildfire activity across the West between now and 2050. The models incorporated how climate change may alter the number and size of wildfires. Then, the scientists used a second set of models to estimate the amount of erosion that would result within a year of these wildfires.

So what did they find? The models predicted erosion would increase by at least 100 percent in a quarter of western U.S. watersheds between the start of the 21^st century and 2050. This is a surprisingly large increase in the amount of sediment to enter local streams. In addition, two-thirds of wester watersheds are projected to experience at least a 10 percent increase in erosion by the middle of the 21^st century.

The findings are important for targeting specific areas that will experience the biggest increase in erosion. This may allow practices to be put in place to help curtail some of this erosion in the future.

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