A new study finds evidence for the southernmost wildfires currently known, which may have facilitated a transition from temperate rainforest to peatland in Antarctica.
wildfires
Posted inEditors' Vox
Where Fire Ends, Chemistry Begins
Once smoke is generated, chemical reactions reshape its gaseous and particulate constituents, altering what travels downwind and what people, ecosystems, and the climate are exposed to.
Posted inNews
Fast, Severe Wildfires Can Change How Forests Grow Back
These blazes can cause ecological shifts even in fire-adapted forests.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
In Alaska, Wildfires Help Prevent Future Burns. Will That Feedback Loop Hold?
Without the suppressive effects of younger vegetation, Alaskan fire activity would be 5 times higher.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Remote Sensing Mitigated the Impact of the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires
Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3 (AVIRIS-3) observations supported situational awareness, inspections, infrastructure assessment, and debris-flow management.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Why Did the Grand Canyon Flood?
Last weekend, flash flooding in the Grand Canyon killed two, left one missing, and forced dozens to evacuate. On Monday, the National Park Service shared that approximately 40% of the Transcanyon Waterline—the national park’s only water pipeline—had been damaged or destroyed.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
What Will the Future of Alaskan Wildfire Look Like?
More and larger fires, including in areas of historically low fire activity, are likely but not a given.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Forest Service to End Protection for 45 Million Acres of Forest
The U.S. Forest Service has moved forward with a rule to withdraw protections from 45 million acres of pristine national forests.
Posted inNews
Scientists Define a New Category of Heat Wave: “Snow Eaters”
Unseasonably warm weather that rapidly melts snowpack is becoming more widespread in the U.S. West and happening earlier in the year.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Climate Change Made This Summer’s Canadian Wildfires Twice as Likely
Wildfires in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and the Northwest Territories have burned more than 3.9 million hectares this summer, prompted widespread evacuation orders, and created poor air quality for not only Canadians, but more than 120 million people across the midwestern and northeastern United States. The fires spread exceptionally quickly, stressing the resources of local response agencies. About 700 fires are still active across Canada.
According to a new analysis, human-induced climate change and its contribution to fire conditions across Canada made these fires twice as likely to occur. The report is from World Weather Attribution, an international climate science partnership.