Research using crowdsourced data found a correlation with the birds’ deaths, nearby fires and toxic air.
Wildfire
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
A punchy cougar; wildlife comms; COVID-safe hugs
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Wildfires may have unexpected climate impacts
Wyoming researchers find current models may underestimate how smoke blocks sunlight and cools the planet.
Posted inArticles
Documenting destruction from above
A young photographer highlights the environmental crises facing Indigenous communities at home and abroad.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Through wildland firefighting, finding a space to heal
A grieving daughter encounters solace in an unexpected place.
Posted inArticles
Lawsuit over proposed fossil fuel railway in Utah moves forward
The plaintiff says funding earmarked for the project was meant for communities ‘to alleviate the boom and bust cycle of energy production.’
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
20 signs that the climate crisis has come home to roost
From Alaska to Wyoming, evidence shows the climate is off-kilter in the West.
Posted inArticles
Are wildfires contaminating your drinking water?
Manufactured substances known as volatile organic compounds pollute water around the U.S., and they’re heightened in the aftermath of fires.
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Colorado’s wildfires require a drastic and collective fix
Climate change should be seen as a number one priority.
Posted inArticles
How the West’s wildfires impact crops
Wine grape and cannabis growers try to assess the invisible damage of ash and smoke on their harvests.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Today’s wildfire modeling ‘just sucks’ for flames fueled by climate change
How scientists use models to understand blazes — and where those models fall short.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Former California prisoners may become professional wildfire fighters
Amid a raging fire season and pandemic, the Western U.S. seeks experienced fire crews to battle its conflagrations.
Posted inArticles
Southwest experiences mass bird die-off
‘To see this many individuals and species dying is a national tragedy.’
Posted inArticles
West coast wildfires signal a planetary fire age
Beyond climate change, history has helped create the pyrocene.
Posted inArticles
Burn out: Frequent fires are changing Western landscapes
Previously burned areas are less likely to re-burn, but intense fires could erase forests.
Posted inArticles
Extreme wildfires make their own dangerous weather
And climate change is making it even worse.
Posted inArticles
COVID-19 is complicating Seattle’s response to wildfire smoke
What happens when one public health threat compounds the risks of another?
Posted inArticles
California’s incarcerated firefighters face dangerous work, low pay and COVID-19
More than a thousand of the crucial wildfire fighting crews have been placed in quarantine after possible exposure to coronavirus.
Posted inAugust 1, 2020: Infectious Ideologies
Wildland firefighters are risking their mental health
As climate change lengthens fire seasons, will the government do enough to protect them?