Wildfires linked to global warming

WASHINGTON -- The increase in the number of large western wildfires in recent years may be a result of global warming, researchers say.

An analysis of data going back to 1970 indicates the fires increased ''suddenly and dramatically'' in the 1980s and the wildfire season grew longer, according to scientists in Arizona and California.

''The increase in large wildfires appears to be another part of a chain of reactions to climate warming,'' said Dan Cayan, a co-author of the paper and director of the climate research division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.