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Climate Change and Fire

Displaying 1 - 10 of 234

Increasing Hydroclimatic Whiplash Can Amplify Wildfire Risk in a Warming Climate

Year of Publication
2025
Publication Type

On January 7 and 8, 2025, a series of wind-driven wildfires occurred in Los Angeles County in Southern California. Two of these fires ignited in dense woody chaparral shrubland and immediately burned into adjacent populated areas–the Palisades Fire on the coastal slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Eaton fire in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Compounding effects of climate change and WUI expansion quadruple the likelihood of extreme-impact wildfires in California

Year of Publication
2025
Publication Type

Previous research has examined individual factors contributing to wildfire risk, but the compounding effects of these factors remain underexplored. Here, we introduce the “Integrated Human-centric Wildfire Risk Index (IHWRI)” to quantify the compounding effects of fire-weather intensification and anthropogenic factors—including ignitions and human settlement into wildland—on wildfire risk.

The 2023 wildfires in British Columbia, Canada: impacts, drivers, and transformations to coexist with wildfire

Year of Publication
2025
Publication Type

In 2023, all regions of British Columbia (BC) experienced record-breaking fire weather and wildfires, with extreme behavior and social-ecological effects. In total, 2245 wildfires burned 2840 545 hectares. Contemporary wildfires are the culmination of a century of altered human–forest–wildfire relationships, exacerbated by climate change.

Patterns and trends of heat and wildfire smoke indicators across rural–urban and social vulnerability gradients in Idaho

Year of Publication
2025
Publication Type

Climate change poses a grave threat to human health with disparate impacts across society. While populations with high social vulnerability generally bear a larger burden of exposure to and impact from environmental hazards; such patterns and trends are less explored at the confluence of social vulnerability and rural–urban gradients.

Carbon, climate, and natural disturbance: a review of mechanisms, challenges, and tools for understanding forest carbon stability in an uncertain future

Year of Publication
2024
Publication Type

In this review, we discuss current research on forest carbon risk from natural disturbance under climate change for the United States, with emphasis on advancements in analytical mapping and modeling tools that have potential to drive research for managing future long-term stability of forest carbon.