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Articles on California

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A U.S. Forest Service employee using a drop torch during a planned burn in Arizona’s Coconino National Forest. USFS/Ian Horvath

Planned burns can reduce wildfire risks, but expanding use of ‘good fire’ isn’t easy

Decades of wildfire suppression have allowed flammable fuels to pile up in US forests. Scientists and managers say careful use of planned fires can reduce risks of large, out-of-control burns.
City Farm is a working sustainable farm that has operated in Chicago for over 30 years. Linda from Chicago/Wikimedia

How urban agriculture can improve food security in US cities

Urban farming can make it easier for city residents to obtain healthy, affordable food. But to raise big yields from small pieces of land, farmers need training and support.
Teenager Alex Weber and friends collected nearly 40,000 golf balls hit into the ocean from a handful of California golf courses. Alex Weber

A teen scientist helped me discover tons of golf balls polluting the ocean

Snorkeling off the California coast, a high school student found heaps of golf balls on the ocean floor. With a marine scientist, she showed that golf courses were producing tons of plastic pollution.
An image from the International Space Station captures plumes of smoke from California wildfires on August 4, 2018. NASA

Stories that made The Conversation unique in 2018

From the curious to the serious – a bird’s eye view of the unique ways in which The Conversation covers the world.
Many California wildfires spread from structure to structure, fed by the winds. Cal Fire

How fierce fall and winter winds help fuel California fires

The dry, hot, downslope Santa Ana winds of Southern California fan late fall wildfires that have largely traveled through – and are fueled by – homes and other structures.
A firefighter in California. Firefighting is getting more and more expensive as fires get more destructive. PETER DASILVA

The bitter lesson of the Californian fires

The California fires are just the most recent in a series of major wildfires. Together, they suggest we need to look at alternative ways of living with fire.
California’s Katie Porter, seen here with Democratic candidates and former president Barack Obama, is one of just three first-time female congressional candidates in California. AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

Female candidates running in record numbers for the midterms — just not in California

A record number of women are poised to win public office in 2018. But don’t look to California for help shifting the gender balance in Congress during the ‘year of the woman.’
Black water cascaded down Cameron Falls in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta after a 2018 wildfire denuded the landscape. (Kaleigh Watson)

Soot-filled rivers mark the need for a national wildfire strategy

Much of the country depends on water stored and filtered in forests. Fire-scarred watersheds highlight our need for a national wildfire strategy.

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