Soil moisture information could improve assessments of wildfire probabilities and fuel conditions, resulting in better fire danger ratings.
Hazards & Disasters
Posted inNews
Podcast: The Johnstown Flood—A Most Avoidable Tragedy
How a dam failure near a small town in Pennsylvania continues to cast a shadow over the region more than 100 years later.
Posted inNews
Will Melting Sea Ice Expose Marine Animals to New Diseases?
Marine mammals previously separated by Arctic ice may have more opportunities to interact as water routes redefine habitats and species ranges.
Posted inScience Updates
Working Together to Close Climate Change Information Gaps
Scientists and managers on the ground gathered to identify information gaps that pose barriers to evaluating climate change risks and responses.
Posted inNews
Are Beavers Nature’s “Little Firefighters”?
It’s about dam time: Beavers are acknowledged for their firefighting skills in five recent blazes.
Posted inNews
Hurricanes Hit Puerto Rico’s Mangroves Harder Than Florida’s
The scale and pattern of damage to the Puerto Rican forests suggest a complex interplay between wind, land, and sea.
Posted inFeatures
Scientists Scramble to Collect Data After Ridgecrest Earthquakes
Ground shaking in Southern California, including a magnitude 7.1 temblor, triggered a massive mobilization effort to collect seismological, geological, and geodetic data.
Posted inNews
Drugs in Our Water Can Leave Even More Toxic By-Products
The chemicals in our pharmaceuticals and personal care products quickly transform into different compounds when they enter the environment. Their toxic effects are relatively unknown.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Timing Matters for Rockfall Estimates
Researchers studying an eroding coastal cliff detected 10 times more rockfall events when monitoring surveys were conducted hourly versus monthly.
Posted inNews
How to Turn Your Smartphone into an Earthquake Detector
A free smartphone app tracks earthquakes using your phone’s accelerometer. One day, the app could issue emergency warnings to those in danger.