Smoke aerosols from large wildfires are the perfect reaction surface for chlorine chemicals, speeding their transformation from ozone-friendly forms to reactive ones.
wildfires
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.
Posted inFeatures
Last Tree Standing
Refugia repopulate forests after fires, but climate change is making these woodlands increasingly unpredictable.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Clumped 18O –18O in Ice Reveals Past Ozone and Wildfire
Reactive gases like ozone are hard to preserve, but clumped isotopes and models provide clues to past ozone and suggest a global increase in wildfire at megafaunal extinction.
Posted inNews
Managing Mudslide Debris After Fires
California officials faced a conundrum in dealing with mudslides after the Thomas Fire.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
How Can Nuclear Plumes Reach the Stratosphere?
A new study shows how moist convection can lift sooty air from firestorms to the stratosphere, potentially leading to a nuclear winter.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Burning Tundra
As wildfires blaze through the Arctic, scientists examine the role of landscape characteristics on wildfire ecosystem responses in northern aquatic ecosystems.