wildfires — Science & Environment

California wildfire seasons becomes a ‘fire year’

Unlike hurricane season, there is no defined start and endpoint to wildfire season. In California, “wildfire season typically begins in July and runs through the first fall rainfall, peaking in Sept. and Oct.,” as explained in The Tufts Daily. Yet with increasing global temperatures, drought and other factors, wildfires now happen year-round in the U.S. The Forest Service coined this as a “fire year.” The shift from a wildfire season to the “fire year” is apparent from the recent Colorado Fire in California on Jan. 22, 2022 and the Marshall Fire in Colorado that started on Dec. 30, 2021. The Washington Post reported the Colorado Fire began in Palo Colorado Canyon and eventually burned around 1,050 acres of land. The Marshall Fire spread through 6,000 acres of the suburban Boulder County towns of Superior and Louisville, “destroying 1,084 homes and seven businesses and displacing over 30,000 residents,” according to the Daily Camera. Both fires occurred during times that are uncommon for wildfires in either state, as stated by KGW 8.

Feb. 11, 2021

A flash flood in Uttarakhand, India, has left 31 people dead and 175 missing. The natural disaster has been linked to global warming in the Himalayas.
Developing countries usually see increases in air pollution as population and economies grow. A new study has found that Nigeria is expanding and becoming less polluted.
A research study has found that climate change has produced longer pollen seasons in the United States along with more pollen found in the air.
Peat in Ireland has been found to help to absorb greenhouse gases and aid in mitigating climate change.
Read about the environmental and climate change links to the farmers’ protests in India centered around agricultural reform.
Research continues on the link between climate change and COVID-19. Read this article on the most recent findings.
British scientists have discovered a way to recapture atmospheric carbon and turn it into jet fuel.
Due to climate change, a heatwave including temperatures reaching 100 F in Siberia has led to wildfires and an increase in the melting of sea ice.