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27 June 2019
Study finds increased moisture facilitated decline in African fires in Africa
The amount of area burned across Africa declined by 18.5 percent between 2002 and 2016, according to a new study.
5 March 2018
2017 North American wildfire pollution comparable to moderate volcanic eruption
A new study finds the fires that spread throughout North America last summer burned so powerfully their smoke pushed all the way into the stratosphere, circled the globe in roughly two weeks and remained in the stratosphere at measurable levels for several months.
30 August 2016
Wildfire smoke hacks clouds
Plumes of wildfire smoke envelop and alter clouds, potentially affecting local weather, according to new research based on serendipitous airborne measurements of clouds in smoke from Canadian fires. The new data confirms clouds embedded in smoke are likely to warm up the atmosphere around clouds, causing the clouds to dissipate faster.
18 April 2016
Post-wildfire erosion can be major sculptor of forested mountains
Erosion after severe wildfires can be the dominant force shaping forested mountainous landscapes of the U.S. Intermountain West, new research suggests. After the 2011 Las Conchas fire in New Mexico, soil and rock eroded from burned watersheds more than 1,000 times faster than from unburned watersheds nearby, the new study found. Most of the erosion happened in the first year after the fire.
15 December 2010
3D movies of the Earth as it changes
No sooner did I wish for a 3D movie at AGU, than I got one. Late on Tuesday USGS scientist Gerald Bawden presented some of his latest work and upcoming projects in the Bowie Lecture (G24A) Ultra-High Resolution Four Dimension Imaging Across the Earth Sciences – with fabulous 3D movies. Red and blue glasses on, the audience visited such places as the sheer rock walls above Yosemite’s Valley Floor; flew above, around and through Bay Area bridges, and visited the burned hillsides of southern California.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire…and soot
I moved to Southern California in 2002 to attend college, and I distinctly remember the fires that burned through the San Bernardino Mountains in October of my sophomore year. From my dorm room window at night I could see the hills aglow with flames. During the day, the sky took on an eerie, apocalyptic glow, and the sun shone sunset red, even at mid-day. A haze filled the air, and soot blanketed everything from cars to clothes.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.