The growing megafire crisis — and how to contain it - George T. Whitesides
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Megafires, or fires that burn more than 100,000 acres, are becoming more frequent worldwide, wreaking havoc on landscapes and communities — and fire experts say the problem is only going to get worse. George T. Whitesides presents three emerging solutions to this blazing dilemma, calling for us to redefine our relationship with fire in order to build a more resilient and sustainable future.
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Our early ancestors relied on lightning to cause forest fires, from which they could collect coals and burning sticks to help them cook food and clear land. Yet, it wasn’t just humans who benefited from these natural phenomena. Even as they destroyed trees, fires also helped the forests themselves. Jim Schulz outlines the benefits of certain wildfires.
The additional carbon from California's 2020 wildfires was greater than the carbon that Californians had worked so hard to save over the previous two decades. See the research here, with the findings summarized in this University of Chicago press release.
While the U.S. Forest Service defines a megafire as 100,000 acres and up, the term is sometimes used to refer to smaller fires as well, with one meta-analysis showing the term has been used to mean fires that affected more than 10,000 ha, which would be closer to 24,000 acres. For more, see here.
From 2016 to 2019, the world saw record-breaking heat waves, rampant wildfires, and the longest run of category 5 tropical cyclones on record. The number of extreme weather events has been increasing for the last 40 years, and current predictions suggest that trend will continue. So, is the increase in extreme weather due to random chance, or changing climate? R. Saravanan investigates.
Watch Duty is a free app to track real-time information on wildfires in the west.
Megafire Action is a non-profit organization advocating for solutions to the wildfire crisis.
The Woodwell Climate Research Center initiative on boreal fires is studying how climate change is increasing the carbon emitted by global wildfires — and what could be done about it.
The Moore Foundation Wildfire Resilience Initiative is a major new effort to comprehensively address the wildfire crisis.
Wildfires.org is a non-profit working to make it faster, easier and safer to do planned burns.
The additional carbon from California's 2020 wildfires was greater than the carbon that Californians had worked so hard to save over the previous two decades. See the research here, with the findings summarized in this University of Chicago press release.
While the U.S. Forest Service defines a megafire as 100,000 acres and up, the term is sometimes used to refer to smaller fires as well, with one meta-analysis showing the term has been used to mean fires that affected more than 10,000 ha, which would be closer to 24,000 acres. For more, see here.
From 2016 to 2019, the world saw record-breaking heat waves, rampant wildfires, and the longest run of category 5 tropical cyclones on record. The number of extreme weather events has been increasing for the last 40 years, and current predictions suggest that trend will continue. So, is the increase in extreme weather due to random chance, or changing climate? R. Saravanan investigates.
Watch Duty is a free app to track real-time information on wildfires in the west.
Megafire Action is a non-profit organization advocating for solutions to the wildfire crisis.
The Woodwell Climate Research Center initiative on boreal fires is studying how climate change is increasing the carbon emitted by global wildfires — and what could be done about it.
The Moore Foundation Wildfire Resilience Initiative is a major new effort to comprehensively address the wildfire crisis.
Wildfires.org is a non-profit working to make it faster, easier and safer to do planned burns.
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- Speaker George T. Whitesides
