Breaking News: Wildfires

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Newswise: Ogo Enekwizu Brings Soot-seeded Clouds into the Laboratory
Released: 14-Mar-2023 5:05 AM EDT
Ogo Enekwizu Brings Soot-seeded Clouds into the Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory

Tiny particles in Earth’s atmosphere can have a big impact on climate. But understanding exactly how these aerosol particles form cloud drops and affect the absorption and scattering of sunlight is one of the biggest sources of uncertainty in climate models. Ogochukwu (Ogo) Enekwizu is trying to tame that complexity by creating soot-seeded aerosol particles in a lab.

Released: 2-Mar-2023 3:55 PM EST
Wildfires in 2021 emitted a record-breaking amount of carbon dioxide
University of California, Irvine

Carbon dioxide emissions from wildfires, which have been gradually increasing since 2000, spiked drastically to a record high in 2021, according to an international team of researchers led by Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine.

Released: 28-Feb-2023 6:05 PM EST
How does wildfire smoke affect pregnancy and children?
UC Davis MIND Institute

UC Davis researchers have been awarded $1.35 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to study the health impacts of wildfire smoke on pregnant people and children.

Newswise: Number of fires in Brazilian Amazon in August-September 2022 was highest since 2010
Released: 14-Feb-2023 11:25 AM EST
Number of fires in Brazilian Amazon in August-September 2022 was highest since 2010
Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The number of active fires recorded in the Brazilian Amazon in August-September 2022 was the highest since 2010, according to an article published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Newswise: New Technique Maps Large-scale Impacts of Fire-induced Permafrost Thaw in Alaska
Released: 14-Feb-2023 8:30 AM EST
New Technique Maps Large-scale Impacts of Fire-induced Permafrost Thaw in Alaska
Florida Atlantic University

For the first time, researchers have developed a machine learning-based ensemble approach to quantify fire-induced thaw settlement across the entire Tanana Flats in Alaska, which encompasses more than 3 million acres. They linked airborne repeat lidar data to time-series Landsat products (satellite images) to delineate thaw settlement patterns across six large fires that have occurred since 2000. The six fires resulted in a loss of nearly 99,000 acres of evergreen forest from 2000 to 2014 among nearly 155,000 acres of fire-influenced forests with varying degrees of burn severity. This novel approach helped to explain about 65 percent of the variance in lidar-detected elevation change.

Released: 10-Feb-2023 7:35 PM EST
To save our pets, we need to know our neighbors' Lessons from an urban firestorm
University of Colorado Boulder

More than 1,000 pets perished in the Dec. 30 Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colo., many of them trapped inside their homes as guardians who had left for the day desperately tried to devise a plan to free them, according to new CU Boulder research published in the journal Animals.

Newswise: Fungi and bacteria are binging on burned soil
Released: 7-Feb-2023 4:05 PM EST
Fungi and bacteria are binging on burned soil
University of California, Riverside

UC Riverside researchers have identified tiny organisms that not only survive but thrive during the first year after a wildfire. The findings could help bring land back to life after fires that are increasing in both size and severity.

Released: 1-Feb-2023 6:00 PM EST
Western wildfires destroying more homes per square mile burned
University of Colorado Boulder

More than three times as many houses and other structures burned in Western wildfires in 2010-2020 than in the previous decade, and that wasn’t only because more acreage burned, a new analysis has found.

Newswise: Understanding plants can boost wildland-fire modeling in uncertain future
Released: 31-Jan-2023 12:05 PM EST
Understanding plants can boost wildland-fire modeling in uncertain future
Los Alamos National Laboratory

A new conceptual framework for incorporating the way plants use carbon and water, or plant dynamics, into fine-scale computer models of wildland fire provides a critical first step toward improved global fire forecasting.

Newswise: In the Wake of a Wildfire, Embers of Change in Cognition and Brain Function Linger
Released: 18-Jan-2023 4:35 PM EST
In the Wake of a Wildfire, Embers of Change in Cognition and Brain Function Linger
University of California San Diego

Five years after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, UC San Diego researchers document persistent differences in cognitive function among survivors.

Newswise: What’s driving re-burns across California and the West?
Released: 18-Jan-2023 1:05 PM EST
What’s driving re-burns across California and the West?
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Seasonal temperature, moisture loss from plants and wind speed are what primarily drive fires that sweep across the same landscape multiple times, a new study reveals. These findings and others could help land managers plan more effective treatments in areas susceptible to fire, particularly in the fire-ravaged wildland-urban interfaces of California.

Newswise: 20,000 premature US deaths caused by human-ignited fires
Released: 16-Jan-2023 4:55 PM EST
20,000 premature US deaths caused by human-ignited fires
Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing

Over 80% of premature deaths caused by small smoke particles in the United States result directly from human-ignited fires.

   
Newswise: NASA says 2022 fifth warmest year on record, warming trend continues
Released: 13-Jan-2023 7:15 PM EST
NASA says 2022 fifth warmest year on record, warming trend continues
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Earth's average surface temperature in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA.

Released: 12-Jan-2023 11:05 AM EST
Using machine learning to help monitor climate-induced hazards
Ohio State University

Combining satellite technology with machine learning may allow scientists to better track and prepare for climate-induced natural hazards, according to research presented last month at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Released: 21-Dec-2022 12:40 PM EST
Are California nursing homes adequately prepared for wildfire-related emergencies?
Wiley

Emergency preparedness in nursing homes should be commensurate with local environmental risks to ensure residents’ safety, but new research in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that nursing homes in California that face a greater risk of wildfire exposure have poorer compliance with Medicare’s emergency preparedness standards.

   
Newswise: For 400 years, Indigenous tribes buffered climate's impact on wildfires in the American Southwest
Released: 8-Dec-2022 9:40 AM EST
For 400 years, Indigenous tribes buffered climate's impact on wildfires in the American Southwest
Southern Methodist University

Devastating megafires are becoming more common, in part, because the planet is warming. But a new study led by SMU suggests bringing “good fire” back to the U.S. and other wildfire fire-prone areas, as Native Americans once did, could potentially blunt the role of climate in triggering today’s wildfires.

   
Newswise: Americans Flocking to Fire: National Migration Study
5-Dec-2022 5:00 AM EST
Americans Flocking to Fire: National Migration Study
University of Vermont

Americans are leaving many of the U.S. counties hit hardest by hurricanes and heatwaves—and moving towards dangerous wildfires and warmer temperatures, says one of the largest studies of U.S. migration and natural disasters. These results are concerning, as wildfire and rising temperatures are projected to worsen with climate change. The study was inspired by the increasing number of headlines of record-breaking natural disasters.

   
Released: 6-Dec-2022 5:05 AM EST
UO students working to develop community smoke management plan
University of Oregon

Western wildfires have been increasing over the last decade and are expected to become more frequent. As a result, communities are seeing more unhealthy air days. In southern Oregon, Jackson County is creating a smoke management community response plan with the help of two University of Oregon graduate students.

   
Newswise: When cyclones and fires collide…
Released: 27-Nov-2022 8:05 PM EST
When cyclones and fires collide…
University of South Australia

As strong winds and torrential rains inundate Australia’s south-eastern coast, new research suggests that high intensity bushfires might not be too far behind, with their dual effects extending damage zones and encroaching on previously low-risk residential areas.

Newswise: Large parts of Europe are warming twice as fast as the planet on average
Released: 22-Nov-2022 7:00 PM EST
Large parts of Europe are warming twice as fast as the planet on average
Stockholm University

The warming during the summer months in Europe has been much faster than the global average, shows a new study by researchers at Stockholm University published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres.

Newswise: Fire in the Amazon Is Associated More with Agricultural Burning and Deforestation Than with Drought
Released: 4-Nov-2022 3:35 PM EDT
Fire in the Amazon Is Associated More with Agricultural Burning and Deforestation Than with Drought
Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

A Brazilian study shows that the number of fires detected in the entire Amazon region between 2003 and 2020 was influenced more by uncontrolled human use of fire than by drought.

Newswise: NYS Mesonet Study Tracks the Impacts of Western Wildfires on New York Air Quality
Released: 27-Oct-2022 4:05 PM EDT
NYS Mesonet Study Tracks the Impacts of Western Wildfires on New York Air Quality
University at Albany, State University of New York

The study finds that more frequent and intense western wildfires are not only impacting the air quality and visibility in surrounding areas, but also as far away as the East Coast.

Newswise: Research Chronicles Forest Recovery After Montana’s 2017 Fire Season
Released: 24-Oct-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Research Chronicles Forest Recovery After Montana’s 2017 Fire Season
University of Montana

For a researcher who studies wildfire, University of Montana graduate student Kyra Clark-Wolf couldn’t have had better timing.

Newswise: After 2018 ‘Woolsey Wildfire,’ Los Angeles’ Mountain Lions Are Taking More Risks
Released: 20-Oct-2022 4:30 PM EDT
After 2018 ‘Woolsey Wildfire,’ Los Angeles’ Mountain Lions Are Taking More Risks
Cell Press

Los Angeles is known for its movie stars and beaches. It’s also known for being one of only two megacities in the world that supports a population of big cats.

Newswise: Western Wildfires Spark Stronger Storms in Downwind States
Released: 18-Oct-2022 3:00 PM EDT
Western Wildfires Spark Stronger Storms in Downwind States
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

A new study shows for the first time that wildfires burning in West Coast states can strengthen storms in downwind states. Heat and tiny airborne particles produced by western wildfires distantly intensify severe storms, in some cases bringing baseball-sized hail, heavier rain and flash flooding to states like Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas.

Newswise: UCLA-led study finds California’s greenhouse gas reductions could be wiped out by 2020 wildfires
Released: 17-Oct-2022 10:05 AM EDT
UCLA-led study finds California’s greenhouse gas reductions could be wiped out by 2020 wildfires
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

A new analysis led by researchers with the University of California has found the 2020 wildfires in the state, the most disastrous wildfire year on record, put twice as much greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere as the total reduction in such pollutants in California between 2003-2019.

Newswise: Warmer stream temperatures in burned-over Oregon watershed didn’t result in fewer trout
Released: 4-Oct-2022 1:30 PM EDT
Warmer stream temperatures in burned-over Oregon watershed didn’t result in fewer trout
Oregon State University

The number of trout in a southern Oregon stream system showed no decline one year after a fire burned almost the entire watershed, including riparian zone trees that had helped maintain optimal stream temperatures for the cold-water fish.

Newswise: After wildfires, do microbes exhale potent greenhouse gas?
Released: 28-Sep-2022 3:55 PM EDT
After wildfires, do microbes exhale potent greenhouse gas?
University of California, Riverside

Laughing gas is no laughing matter — nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas with 300 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. Scientists are racing to learn whether microorganisms send more of it into the atmosphere after wildfires.

Released: 27-Sep-2022 4:05 PM EDT
Cattle grazing with virtual fencing shows potential to create wildfire fuel breaks, study finds
Oregon State University

The use of virtual fencing to manage cattle grazing on sagebrush rangelands has the potential to create fuel breaks needed to help fight wildfires, a recent Oregon State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service study found.

Released: 27-Sep-2022 7:05 AM EDT
Diverse landscapes at the heart of bee conservation
University of Georgia

New research from the University of Georgia revealed that mixed land use – such as developments interspersed with forest patches – improves bee diversity and is leading to new solutions for bee conservation. The researchers hypothesized that development would negatively affect bee diversity, but the results of the study were surprising. They found that small amounts of development actually had a positive impact on the number of bee species present in a given area.

Released: 20-Sep-2022 9:30 AM EDT
Public policy and insurance expert to testify at House committee hearing on wildfire risk
University of Georgia

Dean Matt Auer will testify as a witness for the House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled, “State of Emergency: Examining the Impact of Growing Wildfire Risk on the Insurance Market” on September 22 at 9:00 am

Newswise: Deep Matters: Microbes’ Sensitivity to Environmental Change Depends on Soil Depth
Released: 19-Sep-2022 4:05 PM EDT
Deep Matters: Microbes’ Sensitivity to Environmental Change Depends on Soil Depth
Department of Energy, Office of Science

The role of microbes in the carbon cycle is likely to shift as microbial communities respond to environmental shocks such as drought and wildfire. This research studied how depth below the ground surface affects bacterial communities’ resistance to these shocks. It found that bacterial communities closer to the soil surface were more sensitive to drought and fire, suggesting that deeper soils may serve as a refuge.

Released: 19-Sep-2022 10:40 AM EDT
Wildfire Smoke May Have Amplified Arctic Phytoplankton Bloom
North Carolina State University

Smoke from a Siberian wildfire may have transported enough nitrogen to parts of the Arctic Ocean to amplify a phytoplankton bloom. The work sheds light on some potential ecological effects from Northern Hemisphere wildfires, particularly as these fires become larger, longer and more intense.

Released: 9-Sep-2022 3:05 AM EDT
New AI system predicts how to prevent wildfires
Aalto University

A machine learning model can evaluate the effectiveness of different management strategies

Newswise: How To Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke When Indoors
Released: 8-Sep-2022 1:05 PM EDT
How To Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke When Indoors
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

RICHLAND, Wash.—The dangers of inhaling smoke are well established. Many people do their best to avoid breathing it in. But what about when the smoke comes to you?As wildfires burn in record numbers, their smoke can infiltrate homes, creeping through cracks and imperfect seals to find its way into our fragile lungs. That’s why buildings scientist Chrissi Antonopoulos, from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is sharing the most up-to-date advice on how to protect you and your family from wildfire smoke when indoors.

Newswise: Tree Species in one of World’s Most Diverse Conifer Forests Not Migrating Uphill Fast Enough
Released: 16-Aug-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Tree Species in one of World’s Most Diverse Conifer Forests Not Migrating Uphill Fast Enough
Cal Poly Humboldt

The trees in Northern California’s Klamath Mountains are not keeping up with climate change. Instead, many tree species are in decline, losing the race due to climate warming and decades of fire suppression.

Newswise: Study from “Black Tuesday” bushfires finds link to PTSD
Released: 15-Aug-2022 10:05 PM EDT
Study from “Black Tuesday” bushfires finds link to PTSD
University of Adelaide

New research published in the Australian Journal of Rural Health has shown people who are forced to relocate after a bushfire are at a higher risk of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as PTSD. Led by Associate Professor Venkatesan Thiruvenkatarajan from the University of Adelaide, and Dr Richard Watts from Flinders University, the researchers spoke with people affected by the 2005 “Black Tuesday” Eyre Peninsula bushfires, which took nine lives, destroyed 93 homes and blackened 80,000 hectares of land near Port Lincoln on 11 January, 2005.

Newswise:Video Embedded sensor-research-helps-fight-wildfires
VIDEO
Released: 15-Aug-2022 1:40 PM EDT
Sensor Research Helps Fight Wildfires
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

As climate change leads to larger and more frequent wildfires, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using sensors, drones and machine learning to both prevent fires and reduce their damage to the electric grid. Engineers are honing technology to remotely sense electrical arcing and faulty equipment, as well as the direction of spreading fires.

Released: 11-Aug-2022 11:20 AM EDT
Taming Tomorrow's Wildfires
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

From uncovering where best to apply controlled burns to protecting energy infrastructure from outer space, scientists at PNNL are using their research to get an edge on tomorrow's wildfires.

Newswise: Simultaneous climate events risk damaging entire socioeconomic systems
3-Aug-2022 10:05 AM EDT
Simultaneous climate events risk damaging entire socioeconomic systems
PLOS Climate

In heatwaves where heat and drought combine, effects can destabilize interlinked sectors, including health, energy and food production systems.

   
Released: 8-Aug-2022 5:40 PM EDT
Dry lightning sparks some of the most destructive and costly wildfires in California, study finds
Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing

A new study has found dry lightning outbreaks are the leading cause of some of the largest wildfire outbreaks in modern California history. Despite this, dry lightning has remained largely understudied across this region – until now.

Newswise: WVU researchers work to restore iconic West Virginia red spruce forests 
Released: 3-Aug-2022 10:45 AM EDT
WVU researchers work to restore iconic West Virginia red spruce forests 
West Virginia University

Clearcutting and wildfires destroyed the red spruce which were once the dominant tree species in West Virginia. Today, only 10% of the state’s red spruce coverage remains and it faces a new threat in climate change. West Virginia University researchers are working toward restoring some of the original tree habitat by studying the long-term effects of climate change on red spruce and the surrounding environment.

Released: 2-Aug-2022 2:05 PM EDT
Wildfires are intensifying around the world. Here are the latest headlines in wildfires research for media
Newswise

California’s McKinney Fire grew to become the state’s largest fire so far this year. The risk of wildfire is rising globally due to climate change. Below are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Wildfires channel on Newswise.

       
Released: 2-Aug-2022 1:40 PM EDT
Department of Energy Announces $10 Million for Research on Environmental Systems Science
Department of Energy, Office of Science

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $10 million in funding for 12 projects to universities, academic institutions, federal research labs, and nonprofits within the area of Environmental System Science (ESS) research. Grants will focus on studies intended to improve the understanding and representation of the impact of wildfires and floods on ecosystems and watersheds, as well the role of plant-mediated water redistribution and fungal networks in shaping ecosystem and watershed function.

Released: 2-Aug-2022 7:05 AM EDT
Wildfires disproportionately affect the poor
University of Georgia

With fires raging from California to Alaska, the 2022 wildfire season is off to a violent start. It’s an ominous sign of what promises to be another record-breaking fire season in the U.S. Roughly 2 million acres burned last month. And major fires are currently scorching Idaho, Utah and California, threatening tens of thousands of Americans’ homes and livelihoods. Many of those at risk are lower-income Americans who face canceled homeowners insurance policies and rising premiums, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

Released: 26-Jul-2022 3:05 PM EDT
New Sensing Platform Deployed at Controlled Burn Site, Could Help Prevent Forest Fires
Argonne National Laboratory

Sage, a new sensing and computing platform based on Argonne’s Waggle technology, has been deployed at a controlled burn site in Kansas.

Newswise: Wildfire-smoke observations fill gap in estimating soot’s role in climate change
Released: 21-Jul-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Wildfire-smoke observations fill gap in estimating soot’s role in climate change
Los Alamos National Laboratory

New research refining the amount of sunlight absorbed by black carbon in smoke from wildfires will help clear up a long-time weak spot in earth system models, enabling more accurate forecasting of global climate change.



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