The Amazon is burning at record levels, and land clearing is to blame. The good news: we already know what we need to do to stop it.
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Articles on Wildfires
Displaying 281 - 300 of 369 articles
Boreal forests store one-third of all terrestrial carbon - but for how long?
A researcher based in Fairbanks, Alaska, links 2019’s record-breaking wildfires in far northern regions of the world to climate change, and describes what it’s like as zones near her city burn.
Canadian history and international relations theory gives us perspective on why co-ordinating flood management has proven so difficult in Canada and what can be done about it.
The iconic advertising campaign originated as a way to protect the nation from its WWII enemies. Today, critics are asking if it’s causing harm as well as good.
As unlikely as it may sound, a new approach for fighting the destruction of wildfires in Canada’s boreal region may lie in wetlands packed with soaking layers of peat and topped with living moss.
From heat stroke to asthma to lyme disease, climate change already poses a serious health risk.
Laws and policies that marginalize Indigenous people and communities make these same people vulnerable to disaster.
Australia’s water supplies are at risk as climate extremes provoke erosion events that threaten lakes and dams.
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.
Weather-related catastrophic events have cost Canadians more than $17 billion in the past decade. That only stands to grow, unless building codes change to make homes more resilient.
Wildfires broke out across the British Isles during a recent heatwave. But the burning question of the link to climate change does not have an easy answer.
From the curious to the serious – a bird’s eye view of the unique ways in which The Conversation covers the world.
Where we build our communities and how we build them has an outsize role in our vulnerability to wildfire.
Some observers have blamed recent wildfires on poor forest management, while others point to climate change. In fact, a climate scientist explains, reducing fire risks means tackling both issues.
Haze from Northern California wildfires has drifted as far east as Philadelphia. Wildfire smoke contains many potentially toxic substances, so anyone exposed to it should take basic precautions.
Forest management is not a cure-all for wildfires, although it can help reduce the chances of massive burns. Making this happen will require broad collaborative efforts and more money.
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.
We need to learn to coexist with wildfires the way many ecosystems do. We won’t protect lives in the long term by trying to stamp the fires out.
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.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Boise State University
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Professor of Geography and Director of the Centre for Wildfire Research, Swansea University
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Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, University of Tasmania
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Assistant Professor of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University
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Professor of Engineering, University of California, Merced
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Investigadora Ramón y Cajal, Instituto Mixto de Investigación en Biodiversidad (Universidad de Oviedo - CSIC)
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Fellow, Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy, School of Policy Studies, Queen's University, Ontario
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Wildfire Specialist at the University of California Cooperative Extension; Adjunct Professor Bren School of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
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Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Director of the Healthy Plumbing Consortium and Center for Plumbing Safety, Purdue University
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Professor of Fire Ecology, University of Montana
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Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton
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Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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Associate Professor of Geography and Director, Earth Lab, University of Colorado Boulder
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Sr. Associate Vice President for Research and Research Professor, University of Oregon
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Emeritus Professor of Life Sciences, Arizona State University
