Wildfires
Managing forests and other ecosystems under rising threats requires thinking across wide-ranging scenarios
Managing forests and other ecosystems under rising threats requires thinking across wide-ranging scenarios Climate change is causing unprecedented threats to forests and ecosystems, including giant sequoia forests in California, which are facing multiple stressors like wildfire, drought, and pests. Traditional management approaches focus on maintaining or restoring historical ecosystem conditions, but this may not work […]
🔬 Science
NASA Airborne Sensor’s Wildfire Data Helps Firefighters Take Action
NASA Airborne Sensor’s Wildfire Data Helps Firefighters Take Action NASA’s AVIRIS-3 airborne imaging spectrometer helped firefighters contain a wildfire in Alabama by providing real-time data on the fire’s location, extent, and intensity. The sensor detected the 120-acre fire on March 19 and transmitted images to firefighters’ phones in minutes, allowing them to limit its spread […]
🔬 Science
Controlled burns reduce wildfire risk, but they require trained staff and funding − this could be a rough year
Controlled burns reduce wildfire risk, but they require trained staff and funding − this could be a rough year Wildfires are becoming more frequent, larger, and catastrophic in the western United States due to climate change, human activity, and vegetation buildup. The U.S. Forest Service has issued a 10-year strategy to scale up controlled burns […]
📰 News
Fire smoke tied to thousands of premature deaths in 2017 alone
Fire smoke tied to thousands of premature deaths in 2017 alone A new study estimates that fire smoke from wildfires and prescribed burns caused $200 billion in health damages in 2017, associated with 20,000 premature deaths. Senior citizens were disproportionately harmed, while Native American and Black communities experienced the greatest damages per capita, highlighting systemic […]
🏥 Health
What causes the powerful winds that fuel dust storms, wildfires and blizzards? A weather scientist explains
What causes the powerful winds that fuel dust storms, wildfires and blizzards? A weather scientist explains When huge dust storms like this one in the Phoenix suburbs in 2022 hit, it's easy to see the power of the wind. Christopher Harris/iStock Images via Getty Plus Windstorms can seem like they come out of nowhere, hitting […]
🔬 Science