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Categories: Environmental: Wildfires, Geoscience: Geography
Published Without aggressive climate action, U.S. property values will take a hit from escalating wildfire risk and tree mortality, study finds



Research attempts to quantify the value of U.S. property at risk in forested areas exposed to increased ecological disturbance associated with climate change, such as wildfire and tree mortality. Property exposed to such climate risks, especially in California, is project to climb substantially if emission-reduction measures are not taken.
Published Dry lightning can spark wildfires even under wetter conditions



Dry lightning can still be disastrous even when conditions aren't so dry, a study has found. These cloud-to-ground strikes during little to no rainfall were previously thought to pose wildfire danger only if occurring with less than 2.5 mm of rain in a day (about 0.10 inches). A new study of lightning-ignited wildfires in the U.S. West found the strikes caused wildfires despite up to 7.7 mm (about 0.3 inches) of precipitation. While still a low amount of rain, the more accurate estimation could help responders detect fires earlier, especially those known as 'holdovers,' which can smolder for many days before exploding into full-blown wildfires.
Published Wildfires and farming activities may be top sources of air pollution linked to increased risk, cases of dementia



No amount of air pollution is good for the brain, but wildfires and the emissions resulting from agriculture and farming in particular may pose especially toxic threats to cognitive health, according to new research.
Published Wildfires emit potent climate-warming organic particles



Researchers found that wildfires are causing a much greater warming effect than has been accounted for by climate scientists. The work, which focuses on the role of 'dark brown carbon' -- an abundant but previously unknown class of particles emitted as part of wildfire smoke -- highlights an urgent need to revise climate models and update approaches for the changing environment.
Published Scientists dig into wildfire predictions, long-term impacts



Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. Scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity.
Published Research supports use of managed and prescribed fires to reduce fire severity



Scientists found that fires in America's dry conifer forests are burning hotter and killing more trees today than in previous centuries. The main culprit? Paradoxically, a lack of fires.
Published Picturing where wildlands and people meet at a global scale



Researchers have created the first tool to map and visualize the areas where human settlements and nature meet on a global scale. The tool could improve responses to environmental conflicts like wildfires, the spread of zoonotic diseases and loss of ecosystem biodiversity.
Published Understanding the many different ways animals are evolving in response to fire could help conservation efforts



In our modern era of larger, more destructive, and longer-lasting fires -- called the Pyrocene -- plants and animals are evolving quickly to survive. By synthesizing the wide body of research about rapid animal evolution in response to fire, a multidisciplinary team of ecology experts hopes to leverage what we already know to help foster evolution-informed conservation plans. In this way, they suggest, we can try to harness the ways in which fire impacts animals to protect vulnerable species -- working with evolution instead of against it.
Published Hidden cameras spot wildlife returning home after 2018 megafire



Researchers analyzed more than 500,000 motion-sensor camera trap images taken at a Northern California reserve in the years before and after the Mendocino Complex Fire to understand how the blaze impacted small- and medium-sized mammals. The study is one of the first to compare wildlife observations made before and after a megafire, and is also one of a limited number of studies to focus on the impacts of megafires on California's oak woodlands.
Published What causes mudslides and floods after wildfires? Hint: It's not what scientists thought



Scientists once assumed that flooding and mudslides after wildfires were linked to the waxy coating that builds up on charred soil, preventing water absorption. Researchers found that water flow came from absorbed water in both burnt and unburnt areas, suggesting that water was, in fact, being absorbed into burnt ground. The discovery provides valuable insights into where and when potential flooding and mudslides may occur and how landscapes recover after a wildfire.
Published Fungi blaze a trail to fireproof cladding



Scientists have shown it's possible to grow fungi in thin sheets that could be used for fire-retardant cladding or even a new kind of fungal fashion.
Published Addressing justice in wildfire risk management



The unequal distribution of wildfire risk in our society is influenced by various factors, such as social vulnerabilities and intersecting forms of inequality, including gender, age, ethnicity, or disability. A new article calls for more integrated and inclusive wildfire risk management approaches and proposes a novel framework mapping different justice aspects.
Published Three things to know: Climate change's impact on extreme-weather events



Researchers found that the effects of climate change on the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events, like wildfires, could lead to massive increases in all three.
Published Mountains vulnerable to extreme rain from climate change



A new study finds that as rising global temperatures shift snow to rain, mountains across the Northern Hemisphere will be hotspots for extreme rainfall events that could trigger floods and landslides -- potentially impacting a quarter of the world's population.
Published There may be good news about the oceans in a globally warmed world



An analysis of oxygen levels in Earth's oceans may provide some rare, good news about the health of the seas in a future, globally warmed world. A study analyzing ocean sediment shows that ocean oxygen levels in a key area were higher during the Miocene warm period, some 16 million years ago when the Earth's temperature was hotter than it is today.
Published This self-driving boat maps underwater terrain



Engineers concoct an easier way for scientists to study underwater topography.
Published Freely available risk model for hurricanes, tropical cyclones



As human-driven climate change amplifies natural disasters, hurricanes and typhoons stand to increase in intensity. Until now, there existed very few freely available computer models designed to estimate the economic costs of such events, but a team of researchers has recently announced the completion of an open-source model that stands to help countries with high tropical cyclone risks better calculate just how much those storms will impact their people and their economies.
Published New research finds that more than 90% of global aquaculture faces substantial risk from environmental change



Many of the world's largest aquatic food producers are highly vulnerable to human-induced environmental change, with some of the highest-risk countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa demonstrating the lowest capacity for adaptation, a landmark study has shown.
Published Research in a place where geological processes happen before your eyes



Taiwan experiences some of the world's fastest rates of mountain building -- they are growing at a faster rate than our fingernails grow in a year. The mountains also see frequent and significant earthquakes, the region experiences about four typhoons per year on average, and in some places, it receives upwards of several meters of rain annually.
Published Study of Earth's stratosphere reduces uncertainty in future climate change



New research reduces uncertainty in future climate change linked to the stratosphere, with important implications for life on Earth. A significant source of uncertainty relates to future changes to water vapor in the stratosphere, an extremely dry region of the atmosphere 15--50 km above the Earth's surface. Future increases in water vapor here risk amplifying climate change and slowing down the recovery of the ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation.