The issue focused attention on climate change after NASA scientist James Hansen testified before Congress last week about climate change causing drought and wildfires in California and Alaska. Hansen cited NASA satellite images showing worsening wildfires as climate change worsened wildfire patterns and intensified wildfires around the globe.

NASA scientist Kerry Emanuel warned Thursday that wildfire trends may worsen due to climate change and attributed climate change's impacts on wildfires to rising temperatures and humidity in western forests and decreasing precipitation in drought-prone regions of the globe.

NASA scientist Stefan Rahmst