Mimicking a randomized control trial of wildfires, scientists use satellites to uncover the key role of vegetation dryness in wildfire risk, aiding wildfire management and preparedness in California.
wildfires
Posted inNews
Where Does Fire Retardant Fall in a Forest? Ask a Satellite
Knowing where fire retardant lands once it’s dropped from a plane is hard to pin down. A new remote sensing approach offers clues.
Posted inNews
As Wildfires Grow, So Could Methane Emissions
Wildfires that wreaked havoc on California in 2020 filled the atmosphere with a potent greenhouse gas.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Using Cave Formations to Investigate Ancient Wildfires
From sediment cores to speleothems, environmental archives are helping us to understand the history of wildfires.
Posted inNews
Climate Change, Megafires Crush Forest Regeneration
High-intensity fires in western states kill mature trees and their seeds while warmer, drier conditions stress seedlings. But forest managers can still intervene to change this trajectory.
Posted inNews
Wildfire Smoke Destroys Ozone
Smoke aerosols from large wildfires are the perfect reaction surface for chlorine chemicals, speeding their transformation from ozone-friendly forms to reactive ones.
Posted inNews
Extreme Wildfires Make Their Own Weather
Extreme fires in the western United States and Southeast Asia influenced the local weather in ways that make fires and smoke pollution worse.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Summer Fire Means Winter Melt
Changing wildfire activity in California may impact seasonal hydrology by causing intense snowmelt during winter in areas where fires extend into higher elevation zones.
Posted inNews
Potentially Good News for Solar Energy During Wildfires
A preliminary analysis suggests that the impact of smoke blocking the Sun during 2020’s megafires was minimal for the nation’s solar panels.
Posted inAGU News
A Forest, for the Trees
Arrays of technologies and innovative research are helping scientists better understand forests, fires, and the future of our shared landscape.