Wildfires and Climate Change

GEOG 280 - Cartographic Design

This Wildfires and Climate Change map analyzes fire patterns in the western states of America. I chose this region because the climate is becoming hotter and drier as climate change takes place. There is also a strong pattern of fires occurring more frequently, burning more acres, and lasting longer than in past years. Specifically, the frequency of large wildfires has been increasing in the West since the 1980’s.

To create this map, I utilized the select by attributes tool, the kernel density tool, and graduated symbols. The three density maps are classified using the natural breaks method based on the 1980-1989 data. Using the same breaks in data for all three maps allows the reader to better recognize the increase in frequency over time. Every single wildfire over 300 acres from 2000-2014 is included in the larger map. The data including fires over 50,000 acres is also classified using the natural breaks method.

I colored all map elements in ArcMap by utilizing RGB color codes. When the maps were completed, they were saved as PNGs and opened in Adobe Illustrator. Coloring everything in ArcMap made it faster to transfer to Illustrator and allowed for smaller file sizes. Yellow was chosen to represent the largest values because it is both eye-catching and represents heat. The infographic arrows were created in Adobe Photoshop, a gradient overlay was applied to them, and they were saved as PNGs. After all PNGs were transferred to the final map in Illustrator, supporting text was added. Titles are a serif typeface in all caps, while secondary text is a smaller, sans-serif typeface. This differentiation allows the reader to easily identify the hierarchy of elements. I added an outer glow to the graduated symbols of the large map and labels to the largest fires.