Rampant Wildfires Are Threatening a Collapse of the Amazon Rainforest

“Degradation means that you still have standing forest, but you are losing some of the structure, some of the functioning,” says Armenteras Pascual. “You might even look and think it’s really a beautiful forest, but it’s not so healthy.” Being degraded also makes a forest more prone to wildfire. And once a part of the […]

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The High-Stakes Calculus of Preventing Wildfires by Burying Power Lines

Not long after the deadliest wildfire in modern American history swept through Lahaina, Maui, on August 8, speculation began swirling about a notorious igniter of out-of-control blazes: electrical equipment.  Although investigators have yet to officially determine the cause of the wildfire, witnesses reported power poles snapping in the 60-mile-an-hour winds that were pouring down the […]

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Burying Power Lines Prevents Wildfires. But There’s a Cost

Not long after the deadliest wildfire in modern American history swept through Lahaina, Maui, on August 8, speculation began swirling about a notorious igniter of out-of-control blazes: electrical equipment.  Although investigators have yet to officially determine the cause of the wildfire, witnesses reported power poles snapping in the 60-mile-an-hour winds that were pouring down the […]

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The Impossible Fight to Stop Canada’s Wildfires

In a normal year, Rennick would expect a staff turnover of 20 percent, but next year will certainly be higher. To that end, Natural Resources Canada recently allocated CA$37.9 million ($27.9million) to recruiting, training, and retaining firefighters in high-risk zones. But several experts and politicians, including Flannigan, want federal officials to go further and are […]

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The Race to Save Yellowknife From Raging Wildfires

Two million hectares—more than 8,200 square miles—of this pristine wilderness has burned since May, in what is now the worst year on record for forest fires across Canada. More than 1,000 wildfires are currently burning across the country. This season, a total of 5,767 fires have been recorded. Together, they’ve burned 14 million hectares, an […]

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Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature Saves Family Caught in Maui Wildfires

The iPhone 14‘s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature played an important role in the rescue of a family in Maui that became trapped by the wildfires spreading across the region. Twitter user Michael Miraflor said that five people related to his brother’s girlfriend were caught in a vehicle in Maui after the wildfires surrounded them. […]

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The Scary Science of Maui’s Wildfires

In an eerie echo of 2018’s Camp Fire, which sped through the town of Paradise, California, destroying 19,000 buildings and killing 85 people, ferocious wildfires are tearing through Maui, forcing some people to flee into the ocean. Much of the town of Lahaina is now ash, and the death toll stands at 36 so far.  […]

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This Giant Sprinkler System Can Protect Cities from Wildfires

It is 42 degrees Celsius, there has not been any rain for weeks, and the risk of a wildfire is severe. In this dusty corner of southeastern Spain in August, the grass has turned yellow, and fields of cereals are perishing in the heat after months without rain. Walking along the road, it feels as […]

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As Wildfires Get More Extreme, Observatories Are at Greater Risk

It was 4 am on June 17 when Michelle Edwards, associate director of Kitt Peak National Observatory, got the news: A wildfire had breached the road up to the telescopes. She felt a little bit of fear, even though she’d already spent several long days coordinating the observatory’s protection plan, turning her office into a […]

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