The news media have made the number and intensity of wildfires in western states this summer a household topic: as of August 14, there were hundreds of them, and of major ones, 17 were burning in Alaska, 11 in Arizona, 10 each in Oregon and Colorado, and 9 in California. The media and many environmentalists blame them on global warming. The numbers sound bad to people not studied in the field, but in actuality they're not unusual. In fact, the number of fires has been decreasing since the … [Read more...]