The Southwest is on fire, towns are at risk, and a governor calls for disaster declaration

NEW MEXICO AND are facing a dangerously early fire season. It has left neighborhoods in ashes and is having such devastating effects that the governor of New Mexico on May 3, 2022, urged President Joe Biden to issue a disaster declaration. Over 600 fires had broken out in the two states by early May, and large wildfires had burned through hundreds of homes near Ruidoso and Las Vegas, New Mexico, and Flagstaff, Arizona.

We asked wildfire scientist Molly Hunter at the University of Arizona to explain what’s fueling the extreme fire conditions and why risky seasons like this are becoming more common.