Austen Lorenz Eric P. James Ravan Ahmadov John M. Eadie Fiona McDuie Mark J. Petrie Chris A. Nicolai Melanie L. Weaver Daniel A. Skalos Shannon Skalos Andrea Lynn Mott Desmond Alexander Mackell Anna Kennedy Elliott Matchett Michael L. Casazza Cory T. Overton 2022 <div class="abstract-group"><div class="article-section__content en main"><p>In 2020, the fire season affecting the western United States reached unprecedented levels. The 116 fires active in September consumed nearly 20,822 km²<span>&nbsp;</span>(<a class="linkBehavior" href="https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/accessible-view/" data-mce-href="https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/accessible-view/">https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/accessible-view/</a><span>&nbsp;</span>Accessed 2020-09-29) with eighty percent of this footprint (16,567 km²) from 68 fires occurring within California, Oregon, and Washington. Although the 2020 fire season was the most extreme on record, it exemplified patterns of increased wildfire size, number, timing, return frequency, and extent which are linked to climate-driven changes in precipitation and temperature affecting fire ignition and severity (Westerling 2016, Goss et al. 2020, Weber and Yadav 2020).</p></div></div> application/pdf 10.1002/ecy.3552 en Ecological Society of America Megafires and thick smoke portend big problems for migratory birds article