wildfires

By Jeff Masters, PhD and Dana Nuccitelli Calendar year 2020 was an extreme and abnormal year, in so many ways. The global coronavirus pandemic altered people’s lives around the world, as did extreme weather and climate events. Let’s review the year’s top 10 such events. 1. Hottest Year on Record? The official rankings will not […]

By Alison Gold Wildfire activity has increasingly threatened life in the western United States over the past several decades. Many of this year’s record-setting wildfires raged over hundreds of thousands of acres. However, one of their most dangerous and understudied effects is too small to perceive with the naked eye: the tiny particles that can […]

The federal government is more likely to take action aimed at reducing the severity of future wildfires in white and wealthy communities, according to new findings reported by the New York Times. Poor households and people of color are disproportionately hurt by wildfires because they are often more physically exposed and are less likely to […]

In an era of extreme political polarization, opportunities for bipartisan efforts on climate change may seem impossible, but a recent introduction of rare climate legislation, authored by Republican and Democratic senators, could pioneer future agreements. Last Wednesday, U.S. Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), co-chairs of the Bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, introduced […]

By Andrew J. Whelton, Amisha Shah and Kristofer P. Isaacson When wildfires swept through the hills near Santa Cruz, California, in 2020, they released toxic chemicals into the water supplies of at least two communities. One sample found benzene, a carcinogen, at 40 times the state’s drinking water standard. Our testing has now confirmed a […]

Global warming is rapidly changing the Arctic into a region that is, “warmer, less frozen, and biologically changed in ways that are scarcely imaginable even a generation ago,” according to NOAA’s annual Arctic report card, released Tuesday. That description, from Rick Thoman, a University of Alaska scientist and one of the editors of the assessment, […]

A new report about Australia’s wildlife loss following the 2019-2020 wildfires reveals a staggering number. The sobering findings, calculated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Australia, determined that 143 million native mammals were likely killed, including more than 61,000 koalas. Ten scientists and researchers worked on the labor-intensive report, factoring in limitations for concluding total numbers. […]

By Timothy Jones The world experienced the hottest November on record in 2020, while Europe has had its warmest fall weather in history, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly report on Monday. C3S’ analysis of surface and air temperatures found that the month was 0.8 degrees Celsius (1.44 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer […]