Wildfires generate substantial emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). As such, wildfires contribute to elevated ozone (O3) in the atmosphere. However, there is a large amount of variability in the emissions of O3 precursors and the amount of O3 produced between fires. There is also significant interannual variability as seen in median O3, organic carbon and sa...

Around the world, ash and thick smoke from wildfires can choke the surrounding skies. While this visible, murky mess seems to disappear with distance from the fires, polluting gases and small particles not visible to the human eye drift upward and are carried away by global air currents. Can large wildfires contribute to smog problems in distant places? Gabriele Pfister, a researcher at the Nat...

Wildfires are a concern for communities throughout the world. They cause millions of dollars in damage and lead to loss of lives. The development of computational models to predict wildfire behavior is necessary to minimize wildfire damages and casualties. Visualizing the data generated from these computational models has many applications including training, strategic planning, data analysis, ...

Geochemical anomalies and growth discontinuities in Porites corals from western Sumatra, Indonesia, record unanticipated reef mortality during anomalous Indian Ocean Dipole upwelling and a giant red tide in 1997. Sea surface temperature reconstructions show that although some past upwelling events have been stronger, there were no analogous episodes of coral mortality during the past 7000 years...

38 In unburned forests, organic plant litter and live vegetation help stabilize the soil and promote water infiltration. Much of this plant material is consumed during severe wildfires, leaving the bare ground susceptible to elevated postfire water runoff and soil erosion (Shakesby and Doerr 2006). Severe wildfires can also produce a water-repellant layer in the soil that further decreases wate...