Cornell University climate scientist Flavio Lehner notes that the Smokehouse Creek fire, like the Eastland County fires of 2022, sits geographically near a dividing line between regions of the country that are forecast to experience either more or less precipitation in the future.
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 28, 2024 — In a study recently published in the journal Ecology, University of California, Irvine scientists uncover the intricate dance between drought, wildfires and invasive species in Southern California’s coastal sage scrub ecosystems. Titled “Long-term drought promotes invasive species by reducing wildfire severity,” the research, led by Sarah Kimball, Ph.
Connor Bleisch, a graduate research assistant in the College of Science at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), has won the 2023 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Michael H. Freilich Data Visualization Competition grand prize. The honoree is being recognized for a data visualization project that places the user in the middle of a first-hand recreation of a raging wildfire in the Sequoia National Park in 2021.
A multi-institutional team of researchers studied how solar radiation from the sun interacts with individual tar balls. This research, featured on the cover of ACS Publications' Environmental Science & Technology, provides insights into how wildfires influence climate change.
Fueled by increasing temperatures and droughts, severe wildfires are on the rise around the world — as are the smoke-borne contaminants that harm the environment and human health. In 2023, Canada recorded its worst wildfire season ever, with fires releasing more than 290 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere. California also experienced record-setting fire seasons in 2020 and 2021.
Record heat across the world profoundly impacted the global water cycle in 2023, contributing to severe storms, floods, megadroughts and bushfires, new research from The Australian National University (ANU) shows.
Wars, strikes, Barbie, politics and planets dominated the news in 2023, and Michigan State University faculty experts were on hand to add research-based science and scholarship to many of the top statewide, national and global stories of the year.
Toxic chemicals produced from oil emissions and wildfire smoke have been found in muscle and liver samples from Southern Resident killer whales and Bigg’s killer whales.
Wildfire management systems outfitted with remote sensing technology could improve first responders’ ability to predict and respond to the spread of deadly forest fires.
Researchers have shown that the effects of wildfires are not limited to terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems are also undergoing rapid changes. The study found that fire debris transforms lakes and other aquatic ecosystems, with implications for fisheries and water quality.
There is no longer any question of how to prevent high-intensity, often catastrophic, wildfires that have become increasingly frequent across the Western U.S., according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Stanford University.
There is no longer any question of how to prevent high-intensity, often catastrophic, wildfires that have become increasingly frequent across the Western U.S., according to a new study by researchers at Stanford and Columbia universities.
Among individuals receiving in-center hemodialysis treatment in Washington, Oregon, and California, exposure to wildfire-related air pollution was associated with elevated risks of hospitalization and mortality.
Nearly half of all New York counties lacked real-time information to determine air quality during the wildfire smoke days this past summer. Now, a Cornell researcher is leading an effort to install air-quality sensors in 28 upstate counties where there were none.
Individual and social factors contribute to lack of preparedness, despite many available residential wildfire mitigation and educational programs, study reveals
Using satellite images, a team of researchers led by Northern Arizona University found that fires in North America's boreal forest may be changing the environment in ways that researchers didn't previously anticipate.
Despite steps toward decreasing deforestation, uncontrolled wildfires are threatening environmental gains in Brazilian Amazonia, one of the world’s most critical carbon sinks and a region of high biological and cultural diversity.
Newly published research on indoor air quality from Colorado State University shows wildfire smoke may linger in homes long after the initial blaze has been put out or winds have shifted.
New research from Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, professor of IT, Analytics and Operations at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, offers an improved strategy for social media communications during wildfires and contradicting existing crisis communication theory.
Irvine, Calif., Sept. 25, 2023 — Wildfires in California, exacerbated by human-driven climate change, are getting more severe. To better manage them, there’s a growing need to know exactly what fuels the blazes after they ignite.
The consequences of a warming climate frequently dominated the news this summer, from devastating wildfires and floods to deadly heat waves across the globe.
As smoke from Canada's historic wildfires triggers poor air quality alerts across the country, many parents worry about the impact on their child’s health, a new national poll suggests.
Wildfires in Hawaii have devastated the island of Maui. Canada continues to experience its worst ever wildfire season, with more than 1,000 active fires. Brian Lattimer, Director of Virginia Tech’s Extreme Environments and Materials Lab, explains what the Maui and Canadian wildfires have in common.
A new tool, REBURN, can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies.
The discovery that birds evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic was made possible by recently discovered fossils of theropods such as Tyrannosaurus rex and the smaller velociraptors. In a way, you could say that dinosaurs are still with us and seen tweeting from your own backyard! Below are the latest research headlines in the Birds channel on Newswise.
Earth’s rapidly changing climate is taking an increasingly heavy toll on landscapes around the world in the form of floods, rising sea levels, extreme weather, drought and wildfire. Also at growing risk are the values of the property where these hazards are projected to worsen, according to a new study by University of Utah scholars. The research team, led by biology professor William Anderegg, attempted, for the first time, to quantify the value of U.S. property at risk in forested areas exposed to increased wildfire and tree mortality associated with climate stresses and beetle infestation.
Hundreds of people are still missing and rubble scorched ground is all that is left after wildfires decimated parts of Maui. Lahaina is facing years of rebuilding, as very little is left of the tourist town. Liesel Ritchie is a disaster resilience expert and associate director of the Center for Coastal Studies at Virginia Tech.
Experts from Indiana University are available to comment on a variety of topics in the worlds of politics, finance, education and disaster response making headlines the week of Aug. 14, 2023.
In the picturesque paradise of Maui, an ominous pattern of destruction has been unfolding. Devastating wildfires, once considered a rarity on the Hawaiian island, have become increasingly frequent and ferocious. As flames consume vast swaths of land this week, scientists and residents are grappling with the stark realization that these infernos are largely of our own making.
Extreme weather events have dominated the news this summer, with reports on extensive wildfires in Canada; dangerous flooding in India, Japan, and the Eastern US; severe heat waves in Spain, China, the United States, and Mexico; and the hottest day ever recorded on Earth.
A $5 million grant from the Office of the Governor is funding the Arizona Wildfire Initiative (AZWI), an innovative new program at NAU aimed at ensuring the state of Arizona is better prepared for wildfire prevention, management and recovery.
Wildfires are causing a much greater warming effect than previously accounted. A new study focused on the role of “dark brown carbon” — an abundant but previously unknown class of particles emitted as part of wildfire smoke — highlights an urgent need to revise climate models and update approaches for the changing environment.
Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. At the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity.
Below are summaries of recent Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center research findings and other news. Reporting on wildfire smoke? Fred Hutch clinicians and researchers are available to their expertise. Dr. Trang VoPham is an epidemiologist focusing on environmental exposures and risk, follow her on social media.
Wildfires have shaped the environment for millennia, but they are increasing in frequency, range and intensity in response to a hotter climate. The phenomenon is being incorporated into high-resolution simulations of the Earth’s climate by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with a mission to better understand and predict environmental change.
Cancer centers are uniquely positioned to protect cancer patients from climate-driven disasters, but researchers identified significant shortcomings in emergency preparedness when it came to climate-related disasters.
During the summer of 2018, the Mendocino Complex Fire ripped through UC’s Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC), transforming the Northern California property’s grassy, oak-dotted hillsides into a smoldering, ash-covered wasteland.
Hazy, hazardous conditions from climate change-driven Canadian wildfires have prompted researchers to examine the physicochemical and toxicological properties.
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