Environmental: Wildfires
Published

How to apply lessons from Colorado's costliest wildfire to drinking water systems      (via sciencedaily.com) 

While communities and governments nationwide have been facing the impact of wildfires on drinking water systems, no national synthesis of scientific and policy needs has been conducted. Now, a study has outlined the scientific and policy needs specific to drinking water systems' resilience to wildfires.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Unprecedented levels of high-severity fire burn in Sierra Nevada      (via sciencedaily.com) 

High-severity wildfire in California's Sierra Nevada forests has nearly quintupled compared to before Euro-American settlement, rising from less than 10% per year then to up to 43% today, a new study finds.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

In the wake of a wildfire, embers of change in cognition and brain function linger      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Five years after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, researchers document persistent differences in cognitive function among survivors.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

What's driving re-burns across California and the West?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Seasonal temperature, moisture loss from plants and wind speed are what primarily drive fires that sweep across the same landscape multiple times, a new study reveals. These findings and others could help land managers plan more effective treatments in areas susceptible to fire, particularly in the fire-ravaged wildland-urban interfaces of California.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

20,000 premature US deaths caused by human-ignited fires each year      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study shows that smoke particles from human-lit fires are responsible for over 80% of smoke-related deaths each year. The study shows that smoke pollution is on the rise, reducing air quality, and leading to increased illness and premature deaths.

Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

When migrating birds go astray, disturbances in magnetic field may be partly to blame      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Disturbances to Earth's magnetic field can lead birds astray -- a phenomenon scientists call 'vagrancy' -- even in perfect weather, and especially during fall migration. While other factors such as weather likely play bigger roles in causing vagrancy, researchers found a strong correlation between birds that were captured far outside of their expected range and the geomagnetic disturbances that occurred during both fall and spring migrations.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Bird diversity increased in severely burned forests of Southern Appalachian mountains      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study found bird diversity increased in North Carolina mountain forest areas severely burned by wildfire in 2016, reinforcing that while wildfire can pose risks to safety and property, it can be beneficial to wildlife. The study results could help forest managers better predict bird responses to wildfire, and manage forests to benefit birds.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New study models the transmission of foreshock waves towards Earth      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As the supersonic solar wind surges towards Earth, its interaction with our planet's magnetic field creates a shock to deflect its flow, and a foreshock filled with electromagnetic waves. How these waves can propagate to the other side of the shock has long remained a mystery.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Wildfire threats not commonly disclosed by US firms despite risk to economy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

U.S. firms rarely report their wildfire risks in required federal filings and instead bury such risks in nonspecific risk disclosures, according to new research.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Paleontology: Climate
Published

Climate whiplash increased wildfires on California's west coast about 8,000 years ago      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have been studying the effects of the sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred about 8,200 years ago, the so-called 8.2-kiloyear event, with the help of mineral deposits present in White Moon Cave in Northern California. New indications show that oscillations between extreme wetness and aridity in California were closely linked with the occurrence of wildfires. The researchers have concluded that such events are likely to become more common in the face of human-induced climate change.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Americans flocking to fire: National migration study      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Americans are leaving many of the U.S. counties hit hardest by hurricanes and heatwaves -- and moving towards dangerous wildfires and warmer temperatures, says one of the largest studies of U.S. migration and natural disasters. These results are concerning, as wildfire and rising temperatures are projected to worsen with climate change. The study was inspired by the increasing number of headlines of record-breaking natural disasters.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Paleontology: General
Published

For 400 years, Indigenous tribes buffered climate's impact on wildfires in the American Southwest      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Devastating megafires are becoming more common, in part, because the planet is warming. But a new study suggests bringing 'good fire' back to the U.S. and other wildfire fire-prone areas, as Native Americans once did, could potentially blunt the role of climate in triggering today's wildfires.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

'Digital footprints' central to new approach for studying post-disturbance recreation changes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new social media-based study of recreation visitation in the Gorge following the Eagle Creek Fire expands on research launched in 2016 -- and holds promise for other large, multi-ownership landscapes. The study shows how using new approaches that draw from social media data can help us better understand the complex relationships between wildfire, natural resource management, and people.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Major fires an increasing risk as the air gets thirstier, research shows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Greater atmospheric demand for water means a dramatic increase in the risk of major fires in global forests unless we take urgent and effective climate action, new research finds. Researchers have examined global climate and fire records in all of the world's forests over the last 20 years.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

When cyclones and fires collide...      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As strong winds and torrential rains inundate Australia's south-eastern coast, new research suggests that high intensity bushfires might not be too far behind, with their dual effects extending damage zones and encroaching on previously low-risk residential areas.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Ultrathin solar cells promise improved satellite performance      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As low Earth orbit becomes more cluttered, it becomes increasingly necessary to use middle Earth orbits, and radiation-tolerant cell designs will be needed. Making photovoltaics thinner should increase their longevity because the charge carriers have less far to go during their shortened lifetimes. Scientists propose a radiation-tolerant photovoltaic cell design that features an ultrathin layer of light-absorbing material. Compared to thicker cells, nearly 3.5 times less cover glass is needed for the ultra-thin cells to deliver the same amount of power after 20 years of operation.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Researchers design model that predicts which buildings will survive wildfire      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Wildfires may seem unpredictable, leaving random ruin in their wake. Engineers have now developed a model that can predict how wildfire will impact a community down to which buildings will burn. They say predicting damage to the built environment is essential to developing fire mitigation strategies and steps for recovery.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Prescribed fire could reduce tick populations and pathogen transmission      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Prescribed fire -- a tool increasingly used by forest managers and landowners to combat invasive species, improve wildlife habitat and restore ecosystem health -- also could play a role in reducing the abundance of ticks and the transmission of disease pathogens they carry, according to a team of scientists.

Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Forest recovery after Montana's 2017 fire season      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers found thousands of seedlings growing after recent fires in Montana, especially at sites with cooler, damper conditions -- often found in the shade of the dead trees and upper canopy, as well as on the north side of mountains with higher elevations and more undergrowth. Researchers found fewer seedlings at sites with less shade and drier, hotter conditions.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Western wildfires spark stronger storms in downwind states      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study shows for the first time that wildfires burning in West Coast states can strengthen storms in downwind states. Heat and tiny airborne particles produced by western wildfires distantly intensify severe storms, in some cases bringing baseball-sized hail, heavier rain and flash flooding to states like Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas.