The association between years since 1995 and the numbers of fires in California within CAL FIRE jurisdiction is described by the scatterplot in Fig. 73. The association between years since 1995 and the numbers of thousands of acres burned is described by the scatterplot in Fig. 74.

a. Is there a positive association, a negative association, or no association between the years since 1995 and numbers of fires? What does that mean in this situation?
b. Is there a positive association, a negative association, or no association between the years since 1995 and thousands of acres burned? What does that mean in this situation?
c. Most people would think that the more fires there are, the more acres that will burn. Do your responses to parts (a) and (b) support this belief? Explain. Include in your explanation a discussion about whether there most likely is a positive association, a negative association, or no association between number of fires and thousands of acres burned.
d. The association between number of fires and thousands of acres burned is described by the scatterplot in Fig. 75. Does the scatterplot support your response to part (c)? Explain.
e. On the basis of the scatterplot in Fig. 75, a student concludes that there is a weak negative association between number of fires and thousands of acres burned. The student says this means more fires should be set so that the area burned will be less. What would you tell the student?

Years versus Numbers of Fires 8000 7000 6000 5000 5 4000 3000 46 8 10 12 14 Years since 1995 Years versus Area Burned 500 400 300 200 E 100 2468 10 12 14 Years since 1995 Number of Fires versus Area Burned 500 400 6 300 200 100 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 Number of fires