Wildfires News

January 14, 2026

Top Headlines

A 3,000-year High: Alaska’s Arctic Is Entering a Dangerous New Fire Era

Jan. 14, 2026 For thousands of years, wildfires on Alaska’s North Slope were rare. That changed sharply in the 20th century, when warming temperatures dried soils and fueled the spread of shrubs, setting the stage for intense fires. Peat cores and satellite ...

The Ocean Absorbed a Stunning Amount of Heat in 2025

Jan. 14, 2026 Earth’s oceans reached their highest heat levels on record in 2025, absorbing vast amounts of excess energy from the atmosphere. This steady buildup has accelerated since the 1990s and is now driving stronger storms, heavier rainfall, and rising ...

Extreme Heat Is Breaking Honey Bees’ Natural Cooling System

Jan. 13, 2026 Honey bees can normally keep their hives perfectly climate-controlled, but extreme heat can overwhelm their defenses. During a scorching Arizona summer, researchers found that high temperatures caused damaging temperature fluctuations inside hives, ...

Wildfires Are Polluting the Air Far More Than Thought

Jan. 7, 2026 Scientists have discovered that wildfires release far more air-polluting gases than previously estimated. Many of these hidden emissions can transform into fine particles that are dangerous to breathe. The study shows wildfire pollution rivals ...

The Western U.S. Tried to Stop Wildfires and It Backfired

Dec. 18, 2025 Much of the western U.S. is overdue for wildfire, with decades of suppression allowing fuel to build up across millions of hectares. Researchers estimate that 74% of the region is in a fire deficit, meaning far more land needs to burn to restore ...

Polluted Air Quietly Erases the Benefits of Exercise

Nov. 28, 2025 Long-term inhalation of toxic air appears to dull the protective power of regular workouts, according to a massive global study spanning more than a decade and over a million adults. While exercise still helps people live longer, its benefits shrink ...

Record Amazon Fires Release More Carbon Than an Entire Country

Oct. 8, 2025 The Amazon has suffered its most destructive fire season in more than two decades, releasing a staggering 791 million tons of carbon dioxide—on par with Germany’s annual emissions. Scientists found that for the first time, fire-driven ...

Scientists Just Recreated a Wildfire That Made Its Own Weather

Oct. 2, 2025 In 2020, California’s Creek Fire became so intense that it generated its own thunderstorm, a phenomenon called a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. For years, scientists struggled to replicate these explosive fire-born storms in climate models, leaving major ...

Wildfire Smoke Could Kill 70,000 Americans a Year by 2050

Sep. 19, 2025 Wildfires are no longer a seasonal nuisance but a deadly, nationwide health crisis. Fueled by climate change, smoke is spreading farther and lingering longer, with new research warning of tens of thousands of additional deaths annually by ...

Rapid Rocket Growth Raises Alarm over Earth’s Fragile Ozone Layer

Sep. 15, 2025 The booming space industry has filled the skies with rockets and satellites, but this rapid expansion comes with a hidden danger: slowing the recovery of the ozone layer. Rocket launches and burning space debris release chlorine, soot, and metals ...

Scientists Uncover Wildfire Paradox That’s Putting 440 Million People in Danger

Aug. 31, 2025 A massive global study uncovered a striking paradox: even as total burned land has dropped by more than a quarter since 2002, human exposure to wildfires has skyrocketed. Africa accounts for a ...

Maui’s Fires Drove a 67% Jump in Deaths. Most Went Uncounted

Aug. 25, 2025 Researchers uncovered that the Maui wildfires caused a spike in deaths far higher than reported, with hidden fatalities linked to fire, smoke, and lack of medical access. They warn that prevention rooted in Native Hawaiian ecological knowledge is ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:19pm EST

Did an Exploding Comet Wipe out the Mammoths?

Jan. 1, 2026 Scientists are uncovering new clues that a cosmic explosion may have rocked Earth at the end of the last ice age. At major Clovis-era sites, researchers found shocked quartz—evidence of intense ...

Scientists Finally Crack the Mystery of Rogue Waves

Sep. 8, 2025 Once thought to be sailors’ myths, rogue waves gained credibility after a towering 80-foot wall of water struck the Draupner oil platform in 1995. New research shows that these extreme waves ...

The Surprising Reason Timber Plantations Explode Into Megafires

Aug. 21, 2025 Industrial forests, packed with evenly spaced trees, face nearly 50% higher odds of megafires than public lands. A lidar-powered study of California’s Sierra Nevada reveals how dense plantations ...

Is the Air You Breathe Silently Fueling Dementia? A 29-Million-Person Study Says Yes

July 27, 2025 Air pollution isn't just bad for your lungs—it may be eroding your brain. In a sweeping review covering nearly 30 million people, researchers found ...

Scientists Modeled Nuclear Winter—the Global Food Collapse Was Worse Than Expected

July 26, 2025 What would happen if a nuclear war triggered a climate-altering catastrophe? Researchers have modeled how such a scenario could devastate global corn ...

Concrete That Lasts Centuries and Captures Carbon? AI Just Made It Possible

July 23, 2025 Imagine concrete that not only survives wildfires and extreme weather, but heals itself and absorbs carbon from the air. Scientists at USC have created an AI model called Allegro-FM that simulates ...

Frozen for 12,000 Years, This Alpine Ice Core Captures the Rise of Civilization

July 16, 2025 An ancient glacier high in the French Alps has revealed the oldest known ice in Western Europe—dating back over 12,000 years to the last Ice Age. ...

They Fled the Flames—now Jaguars Rule a Wetland Refuge

July 16, 2025 After devastating wildfires scorched the Brazilian Pantanal, an unexpected phenomenon unfolded—more jaguars began arriving at a remote wetland already known for having the densest jaguar population ...

25 Years, 1 Coastline Report Card: The Shocking Wins and Misses

July 16, 2025 Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many ...

Rainforest Deaths Are Surging and Scientists Just Found the Shocking Cause

July 3, 2025 Tropical trees are dying faster than ever, and it's not just heat or drought to blame. Scientists have uncovered a surprising culprit: ordinary thunderstorms. These quick, fierce storms, powered by ...

Even Low Levels of Air Pollution May Quietly Scar Your Heart, MRI Study Finds

July 3, 2025 Breathing polluted air—even at levels considered “safe”—may quietly damage your heart. A new study using advanced MRI scans found that people exposed to more air pollution showed early signs ...

Fire Smoke Exposure Leaves Toxic Metals and Lasting Immune Changes

June 30, 2025 Smoke from wildfires and structural fires doesn t just irritate lungs it actually changes your immune system. Harvard scientists found that even healthy people exposed to smoke showed signs of immune ...

Fighting Fire With Fire: How Prescribed Burns Reduce Wildfire Damage and Pollution

June 30, 2025 Wildfires are becoming more intense and dangerous, but a new Stanford-led study offers hope: prescribed burns—intentionally set, controlled fires—can significantly lessen their impact. By ...

Wildfires Threaten Water Quality for Up to Eight Years After They Burn

June 24, 2025 Wildfires don’t just leave behind scorched earth—they leave a toxic legacy in Western rivers that can linger for nearly a decade. A sweeping new study analyzed over 100,000 water samples from ...

Molecular Link Between Air Pollution and Pregnancy Risks

June 3, 2025 A new study found exposure to specific tiny particles in air pollution during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of various negative birth ...

Air-Quality Monitoring Underestimates Toxic Emissions to Salton Sea Communities, Study Finds

June 2, 2025 Researchers showed that hydrogen sulfide, which is associated with numerous health conditions, is emitted from California's largest lake at levels far higher and more frequently than previously ...

Thousands of Sensors Reveal 3D Structure of Earthquake-Triggered Sound Waves

May 29, 2025 Earthquakes create ripple effects in Earth's upper atmosphere that can disrupt satellite communications and navigation systems we rely on. Scientists have now used Japan's extensive network ...

When Climate Disasters Hit, They Often Leave Long-Term Health Care Access Shortages

May 29, 2025 Immediate recovery efforts receive the most attention after severe natural disasters, yet new data from researchers at Drexel University and the University of Maryland suggests these climate events ...

Does Outdoor Air Pollution Affect Indoor Air Quality? It Could Depend on Buildings' HVAC

May 29, 2025 Researchers determined how much outdoor particulate pollution affects indoor air quality. Their study concluded pollution from inversion and dust events is kept out of buildings, but wildfire smoke ...

Agriculture in Forests Can Provide Climate and Economic Dividends

May 29, 2025 Forest-based agroforestry can restore forests, promote livelihoods, and combat climate change, but emerging agroforestry initiatives focusing only on tree planting is leading to missed opportunities ...

New Study Analyzes Air Quality Impacts of Wildfire Smoke

May 27, 2025 With wildfires increasing in frequency, severity, and size in the Western U.S., researchers are determined to better understand how smoke impacts air quality, public health, and even the weather. As ...

Rapid Simulations of Toxic Particles Could Aid Air Pollution Fight

May 27, 2025 A pioneering method to simulate how microscopic particles move through the air could boost efforts to combat air pollution, a study ...

Breakthrough AI Model Could Transform How We Prepare for Natural Disasters

May 22, 2025 From deadly floods in Europe to intensifying tropical cyclones around the world, the climate crisis has made timely and precise forecasting more essential than ever. Yet traditional forecasting ...

Climate Change May Make It Harder to Reduce Smog in Some Regions

May 22, 2025 A modeling study shows that global warming will make it harder to reduce ground-level ozone, a respiratory irritant that is a key component of smog, by cutting greenhouse gas ...

Southeast Asia Could Prevent Up to 36,000 Ozone-Related Early Deaths a Year by 2050 With Stricter Air Pollution Controls

May 21, 2025 A study has found that implementing robust air pollution control measures could mean Southeast Asian countries prevent as many as 36,000 ozone-related premature deaths each year by ...

Thousands of Animal Species Threatened by Climate Change

May 20, 2025 A novel analysis suggests more than 3,500 animal species are threatened by climate change and also sheds light on huge gaps in fully understanding the risk to the animal ...

Bees Facing New Threats, Putting Our Survival and Theirs at Risk

May 19, 2025 A new report identifies the top 12 emerging threats that could accelerate pollinator losses within the next 5-15 years, according to ten of the world's leading ...

Tech Meets Tornado Recovery

May 14, 2025 Traditional methods of assessing damage after a disaster can take weeks or even months, delaying emergency response, insurance claims and long-term rebuilding efforts. New research might change that. ...

Summer in the City: Urban Heat Release and Local Rainfall

May 12, 2025 Stifling heat and sticky air often make summertime in the city uncomfortable. Due to the heat island effect, urban areas are significantly warmer than nearby rural areas, even at night. This, ...

Tapping a New Toolbox, Engineers Buck Tradition in New High-Performing Heat Exchanger

May 12, 2025 A team engineers created a twisty high-temperature heat exchanger that outperformed a traditional straight channel design in heat transfer, power density and effectiveness and used an innovative ...