Update: New Mexico fire now a "megafire"

“Megafire” at Gila National Forest. Image: U.S. Forest Service 

The largest wildfire in New Mexico’s history continues to burn, having already charred an area larger than New York City. Known as the Whitewater-Baldy Fire Complex, the wildfire has become another in a series of “megafires” to torch the American West due to an unprecedented combination of drought conditions, climate change, and alterations in land-management practices.

Climate Central 

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Fire in Gila National Forest, New Mexico

Fire in Gila National Forest, New Mexico

Image: NASA Earth Observatory

The image above shows the Whitewater-Baldy Fire Complex, a large blaze burning in a mountainous part of Gila National Forest in western New Mexico. The rapidly expanding fire, which started with a lightning strike, had burned more than 10,000 acres (16 square miles) by May 24, 2012. 

NASA Earth Observatory

Picking up one of our children from a birthday party across town yesterday afternoon, we noted a thin smoky haze blowing through the Denver sky. Now I see why.