After the Smoke Clears: How Fires Affect Wildlife Populations
Fires are an essential part of many ecosystems. How do they impact the animals which live there?
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wildfires
Predicting Wildfire Hazards: How It Works and Why It Matters
By using remote sensing at the Haard forest in Germany, researchers have shown that predicting wildfire hazards could be practical for large forests all around the world.
Read moreWhen Fire and Water Collide: Looking to Lakes to Understand Fire’s Deep Past
As I woke up this morning, I learned that a wildfire raging in our local forest had grown to nearly 70,000 acres. A mixture of emotions subsequently flooded in, combining thoughts of concern with questions about how climate change is altering wildfire patterns. In order for scientists and land managers to better predict wildfire outbreaks and to understand the role that climate plays in their behavior, they must first examine the fire history of an area over a long period of time—longer than recorded history. Charcoal and pollen deposits in lake sediments may be able to provide answers to the mysteries of fire’s deep past. Read on to hear about this interesting approach and how one study of lake sediments mapped out 1.5 million years of fire history in China.
Read moreWhat causes fire tornadoes?
When wildfires cause severe weather, they can do a lot more damage.
Read moreHow Does Wildfire Smoke Impact Mortality in Washington State?
Wildfire smoke contains harmful compounds known to negatively impact human health. New research suggests wildfire smoke exposure could contribute to an increased number of deaths in Washington State, and raises interesting questions about public health as climate change threatens to increase the size, frequency, intensity, and duration of wildfires in the state.
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