Incorporating human activity into wildfire forecasting

The Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta. Canada, now at well over half-a-million acres in size and still out of control as of the time of this post (May 12, 2016), has brought a discussion about the intersection of climate change, wildfires, and demographics back to the global stage. The fire has resulted in the evacuation of an estimated 88,000 people and has led to downgrade in the forecasted growth of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP). Scientists have issued repeated warnings for decades th