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wildfires are very harmful they can burn cars and all other things check out this section to see what other things wildfires can do

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Epic

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Discover new children's books on Epic. With thousands of books and audiobooks there is no limit to what children can learn and explore.

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Ota Lutz | NASA | 2020

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Update: Sept. 14, 2020 - This feature, originally published on Aug. 23, 2016, has been updated to include information on the 2020 fires and current fire research.

In the News

Once again, it's fire season in the western United States with many citizens finding themselves shrouded in wildfire smoke. Late summer in the West brings heat, low humidity, and wind - optimal conditions for fire. These critical conditions have resulted in the August Complex Fire, the largest fire in California's recorded history. Burning concurrently in California are numerous other wildfires, including the SCU Lightning Complex fire, the third-largest in California history.

Fueled by high temperatures, low humidity, high winds, and years of vegetation-drying drought, more than 7,700 fires have engulfed over 3 million acres across California already this year. And the traditional fire season - the time of year when fires are more likely to start, spread, and consume resources - has only just begun.

Because of their prevalence and effects on a wide population, wildfires will remain a seasonal teachable moment for decades to come. Keep reading to find out how NASA studies wildfires and their effects on climate and communities. Plus, explore lessons to help students learn more about fires and their impacts.

How It Works

With wildfires starting earlier in the year and continuing to ignite throughout all seasons, fire season is now a year-round affair not just in California, but also around the world. In fact, the U.S. Forest Service found that fire seasons have grown longer in 25 percent of Earth's vegetation-covered areas.

For NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is located in Southern California, the fires cropping up near and far are a constant reminder that its efforts to study wildfires around the world from space, the air, and on the ground are as important as ever.

JPL uses a suite of Earth satellites and airborne instruments to help better understand fires and aide in fire management and mitigation. By looking at multiple images and types of data from these instruments, scientists compare what a region looked like before, during, and after a fire, as well as how long the area takes to recover.

While the fire is burning, scientists watch its behavior from an aerial perspective to get a big-picture view of the fire itself and the air pollution it is generating in the form of smoke filled with carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

Natasha Stavros, a wildfire expert at JPL, joined Zach Tane with the U.S. Forest Service during a Facebook Live event to discuss some of these technologies and how they're used to understand wildfire behavior and improve wildfire recovery.

Additionally, JPL worked with a startup in San Francisco called Quadra Pi R2E to develop FireSat, a global network of satellites designed to detect wildfires and alert firefighting crews faster.

Using these technologies, NASA scientists are gaining a broader understanding of fires and their impacts.

Why It's Important

One of the ways we often hear wildfires classified is by how much area they have burned. Though this is certainly of some importance, of greater significance to fire scientists is the severity of the fire. Wildfires are classified as burning at different levels of severity: low, medium, and high. Severity is a function of intensity, or how hot the fire was, and its spread rate, or the speed at which it travels. A high-severity fire is going to do some real damage. (Severity is measured by the damage left after the fire, but can be estimated during a fire event by calculating spread rate and measuring flame height which indicates intensity.)

This image, created using data imported into Google Earth, shows the severity of the 2014 King Fire. Green areas are unchanged by the fire; yellow equals low severity; orange equals moderate severity; and red equals high severity. A KMZ file with this data is available in the Fired Up Over Math lesson linked below. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/E. Natasha Stavros.

The impacts of wildfires range from the immediate and tangible to the delayed and less obvious. The potential for loss of life, property, and natural areas is one of the first threats that wildfires pose. From a financial standpoint, fires can lead to a downturn in local economies due to loss of tourism and business, high costs related to infrastructure restoration, and impacts to federal and state budgets.

The release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide is also an important consideration when thinking about the impacts of wildfires. Using NASA satellite data, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, determined that between 2001 and 2010, California wildfires emitted about 46 million tons of carbon, around five to seven percent of all carbon emitted by the state during that time period.

This animation from NASA's Eyes on the Earth visualization program shows carbon monoxide rising (red is the highest concentration) around Southern California as the Station Fire engulfed the area near JPL in 2009. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In California and the western United States, longer fire seasons are linked to changes in spring rains, vapor pressure, and snowmelt - all of which have been connected to climate change. Wildfires serve as a climate feedback loop, meaning certain effects of wildfires - the release of CO ₂ and CO - contribute to climate change, thereby enhancing the factors that contribute to longer and stronger fire seasons.

While this may seem like a grim outlook, it's worth noting that California forests still act as carbon sinks - natural environments that are capable of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In certain parts of the state, each hectare of redwood forest is able to store the annual greenhouse gas output of 500 Americans.

Studying and managing wildfires is important for maintaining resources, protecting people, properties, and ecosystems, and reducing air pollution, which is why JPL, NASA, and other agencies are continuing their study of these threats and developing technologies to better understand them.

Teach It

Have your students try their hands at solving some of the same fire-science problems that NASA scientists do with these two lessons that get students in grades 3 through 12 using NASA data, algebra, and geometry to approximate burn areas, fire-spread rate and fire intensity:

Explore More

Lyle Tavernier contributed to this feature.
TAGS: teachable moments, wildfires, science, Earth Science, Earth, Climate Change, Climate TM

Ota Lutz, K-12 Education Group Manager, NASA-JPL Education Office

Ota Lutz is the manager of the K-12 Education Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When she's not writing new lessons or teaching, she's probably cooking something delicious, volunteering in the community, or dreaming about where she will travel next.

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The Science of Wildfires - Teachable Moments | NASA/JPL Edu

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Update: Sept. 14, 2020 - This feature, originally published on Aug. 23, 2016, has been updated to include information on the 2020 fires and current fire research. In the News Wildfire Lessons In these lessons, students play the role of NASA scientist to study the burn area and intensity of wildfires.

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TED-Ed

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Why certain naturally occurring wildfires are necessary - Jim Schulz

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California Burning: Solutions To California's Wildfire Problem

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California Burning: Solutions To California's Wildfire Problem

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NPR | North State Public Radio | 2019

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California Burning: Solutions To California's Wildfire Problem

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Natural disasters are increasing across the nation. In the West, these disasters often come in the form of wildfire, and perhaps no state understands the true cost of wildfire like California.The Golden State has always had forest fires, but they're progressively becoming harder to control and more deadly.

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California's battle with wild fires by Kali

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Elizabeth Weil, ProPublica, photography by Meridith Kohut for The New York Times Magazine

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After another devastating year, it’s clear that Californians can’t keep trying to “fight” wildfires. Instead, they need to accept it as their new reality.

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CIRES

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In this interactive game, students will solve the challenges that their community faces during the course of a wildfire event by using available individual and community resources. Students work in three "zone response teams" to determine the responses they will take in each round as the wildfire situation evolves.

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On average there are 62,805 wildfires per year nationwide

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National Geographic

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Wildfire Smoke is Poisoning California's Kids. 

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Wildfire Smoke is Poisoning California's Kids. 

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Somini Sengupta | NY Times

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Somini Sengupta and Nadja PopovichNov. 26, 2020

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Wildfire Smoke Is Poisoning California’s Kids. Some Pay a Higher Price. (Published 2020)

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Fires are making the state’s air more dangerous. How much that hurts depends largely on where you live and how much money your family has.

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Clarissa Roman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She has experienced firsthand the impacts of wildfire smoke, both on herself as well as her young niece. Clarissa takes action by working with schoolchildren in Reno to teach them what they can do to fight climate change.

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Youth Climate Story: Wildfires and Air Pollution in Nevada

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Clarissa Roman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She has experienced firsthand the impacts of wildfire smoke, both on herself as well as her young niece. Clarissa takes action by working with schoolchildren in Reno to teach them what they can do to fight climate change.

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Wildfires | gintare jursenaite

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Forest fires can have immediate and long term effects on the quality of rivers, lakes, and streams. The most noticeable impact of wildfires is storm water runoff. After the loss of vegetation, the ground's soil becomes hydrophobic and prevents the absorption of water.

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Seymour Simon | 2016
Amazon

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There are dozens of large wildfires burning across the US right now. Here's where they are

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There are dozens of large wildfires burning across the US right now. Here's where they are

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CNN

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here's where wildfires are in the us  - cnn

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There are dozens of large wildfires burning across the US right now. Here's where they are

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While people in the West are suffering through record-breaking heat, wildfires are ravaging many areas, especially in California, and red-flag warnings have been issued from the Northwest into the Rockies.

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Climate Change and the Australia Wildfires

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Climate Change and the Australia Wildfires

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Alliance for Climate Education | 2020

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Climate Change and the Australia Wildfires

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New York Times | The Daily | 2019

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When many in California talk about this year's wildfires, they describe the color - the apocalyptic, ominous, red-orange glow in the sky. The state's current wildfires have seen two and a half million acres already burned. Climate change has made conditions ripe for fires: Temperatures are higher and the landscape drier.

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Mark Thiessen | 2016
Amazon

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A Sign of Life After Australian Wildfires

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A Sign of Life After Australian Wildfires

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MSN

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National Geographic

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CBC Podcasts

When your backyard is burning, is anywhere safe? Welcome to World on Fire , a five-part podcast that takes us to the front lines of out of control wildfires in Canada, Australia and California. Recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosts Adrienne Lamb and Mike Flannigan look at what it takes to find hope in the midst of fear and destruction. Wildfires cost us our health, our homes and our communities, yet people everywhere rebuild and not just survive but thrive.

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World on Fire | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen

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When your backyard is burning, is anywhere safe? Welcome to World on Fire , a five-part podcast that takes us to the front lines of out of control wildfires in Canada, Australia and California. Recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosts Adrienne Lamb and Mike Flannigan look at what it takes to find hope in the midst of fear and destruction.

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Rodman Philbrick | 2019
Amazon

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California Wildfires have burned an area almost the size of Connecticut

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California Wildfires have burned an area almost the size of Connecticut

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CNN

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Since the start of 2020, wildfires in California have burned over 3.2 million acres of land - an area almost the size of Connecticut.

CalFire said Monday that nearly 16,500 firefighters have been battling 28 major wildfires in the state, which have left 24 people dead and over 4,200 structures destroyed. For those who have avoided the flames, smoke from the fires has choked the air and kept people inside. The continued risk of future fires has forced partial power shutoffs for thousands of California residents.

"These are intense, huge blazes," said Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmentalist and former Democratic presidential candidate. "This is a huge, immediate, urgent problem."

Both Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti have attributed the severity of this season's fires to climate change, pushing back on President Donald Trump's assertion that the fires were due to poor land management.

"Denial doesn't work when it comes to climate," Garcetti told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "The cost of denial is that people lose their lives and their livelihoods."

Garcetti said it's disappointing to see the President portray the state's devastating wildfires as a partisan issue and blaming the state as it suffers from a natural disaster.

"Our federal agencies do step up and do help us and do know that we need their assistance but instead, the leader at the very top continues based on the electoral map to either, you know, put down California for not raking enough," Garcetti said. "He doesn't say anything like that in a swing state. In the Gulf Coast, he doesn't assign the blame for the hurricanes or anything that they have done."

Record-breaking temperatures and a lack of rain have only exacerbated conditions.

Trump visited McClellan Park, outside of Sacramento in Northern California, on Monday for a briefing with local and federal fire and emergency officials on the wildfires.

Just before his briefing, Trump was asked by a reporter what role climate change was playing in the fires.

"Well, I think this is more of a management situation. If you look at other countries, if you go to other countries in Europe, Austria, Finland ... they're forest nations. They're in forests and they don't have problems like this," the President responded.

Live updates: Wildfires rage in US West

More victims found in deadly fires

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California wildfires have burned an area almost the size of Connecticut | CNN

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Since the start of 2020, wildfires in California have burned over 3.2 million acres of land - an area almost the size of Connecticut. CalFire said Monday that nearly 16,500 firefighters have been battling 28 major wildfires in the state, which have left 24 people dead and over 4,200 structures destroyed.

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How The U.S. Battles Wildfires And Why Innovation Is Needed

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How The U.S. Battles Wildfires And Why Innovation Is Needed

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CNBC

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How The U.S. Battles Wildfires And Why Innovation Is Needed

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Global News

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Bushfires in Australia: What ignited the deadly crisis

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Vox

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The destruction of the Amazon, explained

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MinuteEarth

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Yurok Tribe

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Elizabeth Azzuz Talks About Cultural Fire

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Help stop forest fires/wildfires artwork

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