At a global scale, the scientific consensus is that fire risk will increase by 10 to 30 percent due to higher summer temperatures and occasional increased periods of droughts. Projections for the central United States show low agreement among climate models on changes in fire probability in the near term, but the majority of models project an increase in wildfire probability by the end of the century . Fire seasons in the southeastern United States could nearly double in length and increase in severity. In addition to the direct effects of temperature and precipitation, increases in fuel loads from pest-induced mortality could also increase fire risk, but the precise relationship between these two factors can be complex. The extensive fragmentation of forests by roads, agriculture, and other land uses in much of the Central Hardwoods may limit the scale of individual fires even as fire risk increases.