Admitted to the Virginia bar in 2013, attorney Zach Pilchen specializes in energy and environmental law. In addition to his legal experience with government agencies and decision-makers, Zach Pilchen maintains a professional interest in topics concerning the immediate and long-term impacts of climate change, including prolonged and more intense wildfire seasons.
While wildfires are naturally-occurring and beneficial to biodiversity, climate change is causing wide-scale environmental changes that are resulting in larger and more frequent wildfires. Due to rising temperatures, warmer seasons are lasting longer, which causes soil and tree bark to dry out. This makes the forests in many wildfire-prone areas more susceptible to burning, thereby, causing wildfires to spread out.
Additionally, warmer weather contributes to the rise of invasive insect species that are responsible for killing hundreds of millions of trees in California and Texas alone. Similarly, the Bushfire and Natural Hazard research center based in Australia links increased temperatures to a longer bushfire season in that country.
While wildfires are naturally-occurring and beneficial to biodiversity, climate change is causing wide-scale environmental changes that are resulting in larger and more frequent wildfires. Due to rising temperatures, warmer seasons are lasting longer, which causes soil and tree bark to dry out. This makes the forests in many wildfire-prone areas more susceptible to burning, thereby, causing wildfires to spread out.
Additionally, warmer weather contributes to the rise of invasive insect species that are responsible for killing hundreds of millions of trees in California and Texas alone. Similarly, the Bushfire and Natural Hazard research center based in Australia links increased temperatures to a longer bushfire season in that country.