Rising human activity and climate shifts increase wildfire risks across the temperate eastern united states

Explore why the eastern United States is facing a growing wildfire threat due to climate change, human activity, and the dense wildland-urban interface.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 6, 2026, 10:38 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from Earth.Org

Historical Context and Changing Regimes

While the western United States has long been associated with massive wildfire disasters, the eastern part of the country has historically been spared such devastation due to its temperate and humid climate. Forest ecologist Winslow Hansen notes that while fire has always been a part of the landscape, particularly through prescribed burning in southeastern longleaf pine forests, strong suppression practices over the last century have fundamentally altered the relationship between local communities and fire. However, this trend is reversing as wildfires spark with increasing frequency. These events often occur when human ignitions, such as discarded cigarettes, coincide with seasonal dry periods after autumn leaf falls or before spring growth.

Urban Vulnerability and Air Quality

The threat of wildfire is no longer confined to rural or forested regions, as demonstrated by recent incidents in major metropolitan areas. In November 2024, fires ignited across the greater New York metropolitan area, including parts of New Jersey and New York State. The resulting smoke caused a significant decline in air quality for urban residents, with some of the most severe conditions recorded in Brooklyn. On November 8, 2024, a fire even occurred within New York City limits at Prospect Park, damaging rare upland forest habitat. These developments highlight the vulnerability of infrastructure and settlements in the East, where 80 percent of the U.S. population resides.

The Wildland Urban Interface Challenge

A primary driver of increased risk in the eastern U.S. is the high density of people living within forested areas, a zone known as the wildland urban interface. Geography professor Erica Smithwick emphasizes that the proximity of homes to forests not only increases the likelihood of human caused ignitions from activities like barbecues but also complicates fire containment. In these densely settled regions, small fires can have outsized impacts on human life and the economy. Furthermore, the land in the East is often divided into a complex mosaic of jurisdictional boundaries, making the coordination of landscape level management policies and emergency communication exceptionally difficult across different states and local agencies.