“A lot of disturbances are no longer purely natural, and there is no clear line between human and natural disturbances anymore,” says Zhu. “For example, there are so many wildfires, and many are not started by lightning nowadays.” In the case of flooding events, human-directed activities like logging and deforestation, construction, impervious surfaces, or dam failures can amplify these disturbances, and are therefore indirectly influenced by humans as well as anthropogenic climate change. The researchers call this category “wild” disturbances. [Phys.org]