Western US wildfires have gotten less frequent, though larger. The rise in annual burned area from 1992 to 2020 amounts to an increase of about 4% each year. Nine million acres burned in 2020, more than the entire land area of the state of Maryland.

Western US wildfires have gotten less frequent, though larger. The rise in annual burned area from 1992 to 2020 amounts to an increase of about 4% each year. Nine million acres burned in 2020, more than the entire land area of the state of Maryland.