Group warns: Climate will fuel wildfires

RENO -- Wildfires are projected to burn twice as much land in Nevada and other Western states by late this century if the climate warms as expected, a conservation group said in a report.

Warmer springs and longer summers since the mid-1980s already have resulted in a fourfold increase in the number of wildfires and a sixfold increase in the amount of land burned compared with the period between 1970 and 1986, according to the National Wildlife Federation report.

The group urged government and industry leaders to reduce greenhouse gas pollution associated with global warming by 2 percent per year, with a 20 percent reduction by 2020.

The report also recommended that homes in fire-prone areas be built with fire-resistant materials and that buffer zones be established between homes and the forest.

Last year marked the second largest wildfire season nationally since 1960, with more than 9 million acres burned.