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Articles on Fires

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It’s a … fire! Illustration by Anurag Papolu/The Conversation; photo by milorad kravic/iStock via Getty Images

Why gender reveals have spiraled out of control

Increasingly outlandish gender reveal parties align perfectly with the values of an economy that’s always scrolling for the next best thing.
If you’ve ever put wet wood on to a fire, you may have noticed it makes a lot more noise than dry wood. Shutterstock

Curious Kids: why does wood crackle in a fire?

Water and sap inside the wood make mini explosions as they turn into gas and burst out. That’s why damp wood makes the noisiest fires.
The Maria Fire billows above Santa Paula, California on Oct. 31. AP/Noah Berger

California is living America’s dystopian future

‘California is America fast-forward,’ writes one scholar. Does that mean that the dystopian infernos that have consumed parts of the state are simply a picture of what awaits the rest of America?
A fire rages through wetlands close to Cape Town in February 2017. EPA/Nic Bothma

What science tells us about fire hazards facing Cape Town and its surrounds

The danger of fires in the Cape region this season is partly dependent on how the Fynbos has been managed over the past few decades.
A burnt out property near Miena, Tasmania. The central Tasmanian house was fitted with roof sprinklers and surrounded by cleared land but succumbed to flying embers from bushfires. AAP Image/Tasmania Fire Service

How a bushfire can destroy a home

If you’re preparing to defend your home from fire, be aware of the vulnerable parts of your house.
2016’s warm winter meant not enough snow for the start of the Iditarod sled dog race in Anchorage, so it was brought by train from 360 miles north. AP/Rachel D'Oro

In Alaska, everyone’s grappling with climate change

For everyone from traditional hunters to the military, the National Park Service to the oil industry, climate change is the new reality in Alaska. Government, residents and businesses are all trying to adapt.
Wildland firefighters, like this crew heading into New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, in 2012, are equipped and operate differently from urban firefighters. USFS Gila National Forest

All wildfires are not alike, but the US is fighting them that way

A historian of wildfires explains the difference between urban and rural fire cultures, and what it means for protecting communities in fire-prone rural areas.
The Victorian mountain ash forest has been severely affected by fires and logging. To determine the actual health of the forest, we need to look at the quality, not just the quantity of what remains. Graeme/flickr

Why we are measuring the health of Australian vegetation poorly

In the aftermath of fires or logging, conservation needs to focus on recovering the health of the remaining vegetation, not just the size of the forest or woodland.
The complete ban on burning peatlands, while effective in reducing forest and land fires, may in the long run harm the local agriculture industry. Reuters/Beawiharta

Zero-burning policy hurts small farmers – a flexible approach is needed

Zero-burning policy could hurt small-holder farmers. The ban on the use of fire for land clearing has raised the costs to prepare their land for planting and to keep it pest-free.

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