Large and out-of-control wildfires can seriously damage ecosystems, but Indigenous fire practices can keep ecosystems healthy and resilient, and even increase biodiversity.
More than 40 fire scientists and forest ecologists in the US and Canada teamed up to investigate why wildfires are getting more extreme. Climate change is part of the problem, but there’s more.
As wildfires continue to edge closer to towns and agricultural areas, grape producers and wine-makers in the Okanagan must once again deal with this increasingly frequent threat of smoke taint.
Efforts to predict wildfire risk and to prioritize mitigation efforts aren’t enough. We must prepare for fire disasters wherever possible and decide what we’ll do when they happen.
New research found that smoke from the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, carried high concentrations of lead. An environmental toxicologist explains what else you’re breathing and how to stay safe.
Managed retreat doesn’t always mean leaving. It’s about preserving the essential while redesigning communities to be better for everyone. Here’s what that can look like.
Scientists studied charcoal layers in the sediment of lake beds across the Rockies to track fires over time. They found increasing fire activity as the climate warmed.
Satellites can already spot a new fire within minutes, but the information they beam back to Earth isn’t getting to everyone who needs it or used as well as it could be.
Federal weather scientists are pushing to make the US more ‘weather-ready,’ which could mean prepping for fires, flooding or storms depending on where you live. The common factor: thinking ahead.
Wildfire smoke is both inevitable and largely unpredictable. We need to change our activities and behaviours to limit exposure to wildfire smoke and protect health.
Recent wildfire seasons have been worsened by climate change. But wildfires also lead to additional climate warming when they release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Wildfire Specialist at the University of California Cooperative Extension; Adjunct Professor Bren School of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Director of the Healthy Plumbing Consortium and Center for Plumbing Safety, Purdue University