PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Canadian forests are more prone to severe wildfires in recent decades

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

2025-01-02
(Press-News.org) Climate change is driving more intense wildfires in Canada, according to a new modeling study, with fuel aridity and rising temperatures amplifying burn severity, particularly over the last several decades. The findings underscore the growing impact of climate change on wildfire behavior, with the most severe effects concentrated in Canada’s northern forests. Fueled by ongoing climate change, Canada – one of the most forested and fire-prone regions in the Northern Hemisphere – is grappling with increasingly severe and prolonged wildfire seasons. 2023 marked a record-breaking fire season. Over seven times the historic average area burned that year. Burn (or fire) severity is a crucial metric used to measure the ecological impacts of wildfires and can inform ecosystem responses, landscape resilience, and fire management strategies. However, comprehensive national-scale modeling of burn severity and its key drivers remains limited, challenging scientists’ ability to generate long-term, high-temporal-resolution (e.g., daily) estimates. Addressing these gaps is crucial for understanding how climate change shapes wildfire dynamics across Canada’s vast and remote forests. Weiwei Wang and colleagues combined 40 years of spatiotemporal wildfire data to build a multinomial logistic regression (MLR) model to investigate the factors influencing burn severity across 10 Canadian ecozones. Wang et al. found that fuel aridity – the amount and moisture of flammable vegetation – was the most significant driver of forest fire burn severity and that summer months were more prone to severe burning. The most severe fire conditions have occurred over the last 2 decades. The analysis also revealed variation in the effect of individual drivers across different regions in Canada. Northern Canada experienced a marked increase in burn severity driven primarily by changing climate, whereas fuel aridity and vegetation type played a more critical role in southern Canada. “From an ecological perspective, the increase in fire activity in boreal forests, especially in the northern regions of the world, has raised grave concerns about the health and function of biomes that act as important carbon sinks,” writes Jianbang Gan in a related Perspective. “Cooperation between the US, Canada, and Russia, which share 93% of the global boreal forest, is needed to effectively manage fire while preserving this valuable ecosystem of the northern hemisphere.”

 

For reporters interested in trends, in an October 2024 Science study, Jones et al. show how vegetation dynamics coupled to weather were the primary drivers of forest fire carbon emissions from 2001 to 2023 in the nontropical regions of the world. In another October 2024 Science study, Balch et al. found that the growth rate and intensity of wildfires across the U.S. has substantially increased between 2001 and 2020.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Secrets of migratory bats: They “surf” storm front winds to save energy

2025-01-02
A species of migrating bat “surfs” the warm winds of incoming storm fronts to conserve energy, according to a study that used tags to track the tiny animals on their long journeys across central Europe. The findings offer new insights into how weather, physiology, and environmental factors shape bats’ seasonal migration patterns. While bird migration is well-documented and studied, this is not the case for seasonal migration of bats – particularly the few long-distance, migratory species. These nocturnal travelers face substantial challenges, ...

Early life “luck” among competitive male mice leads to competitive advantage overall

2025-01-02
Early life "luck" plays a pivotal role in shaping individuality and success, particularly for males, according to a new study in mice. In male animals, competitive social dynamics amplified small initial differences into lifelong disparities in fitness. The findings highlight parallels between biological competition and societal inequalities and they demonstrate how chance events can drive divergent outcomes even among genetically identical individuals. Contingency (colloquially, “luck”) refers to the role of chance in shaping outcomes. It is a critical factor in both biological and social sciences, ...

A closer look at the role of rare germline structural variants in pediatric solid tumors

2025-01-02
Largescale changes in the genome inherited from parents are significant risk factors for pediatric solid tumors, such as Ewing sarcoma, neuroblastoma, and osteosarcoma, according to a new study. The findings, which highlight the role of germline structural variants (SVs) in early genome instability, provide new insights into the genetic underpinnings of pediatric cancers and open doors for improved diagnostic and treatment strategies. Unlike adult cancers, which often result from environmental factors or DNA damage built up over time, ...

Genetics of alternating sexes in walnuts

Genetics of alternating sexes in walnuts
2025-01-02
The genetics behind the alternating sexes of walnut trees has been revealed by biologists at the University of California, Davis. The research, published Jan. 3 in Science, reveals a mechanism that has been stable in walnuts and their ancestors going back 40 million years — and which has some parallels to sex determination in humans and other animals.  Flowering plants have many ways to avoid pollinating themselves. Some do this by structuring flowers to make self-pollination difficult; some species have separate “male” and “female” plants. ...

Building better infrared sensors

Building better infrared sensors
2025-01-02
Detecting infrared light is critical in an enormous range of technologies, from remote controls to autofocus systems to self-driving cars and virtual reality headsets. That means there would be major benefits from improving the efficiency of infrared sensors, such as photodiodes. Researchers at Aalto University have developed a new type of infrared photodiode that is 35% more responsive at 1.55 µm, the key wavelength for telecommunications, compared to other germanium-based components. Importantly, this new device can be manufactured using current production techniques, making it highly practical for adoption. ‘It ...

Increased wildfire activity may be a feature of past periods of abrupt climate change, study finds

Increased wildfire activity may be a feature of past periods of abrupt climate change, study finds
2025-01-02
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study investigating ancient methane trapped in Antarctic ice suggests that global increases in wildfire activity likely occurred during periods of abrupt climate change throughout the last Ice Age. The study, just published in the journal Nature, reveals increased wildfire activity as a potential feature of these periods of abrupt climate change, which also saw significant shifts in tropical rainfall patterns and temperature fluctuations around the world. “This study showed that the planet experienced these short, ...

Dogs trained to sniff out spotted lanternflies could help reduce spread

2025-01-02
  Media note: Video of the Labrador retriever, Dia, in action is available for download, along with photos of the dogs and egg masses, here.   ITHACA, N.Y. - Growers and conservationists have a new weapon to detect invasive spotted lanternflies early and limit their spread: dogs trained to sniff out egg masses that overwinter in vineyards and forests.    A Cornell University study found that trained dogs – a Labrador retriever and a Belgian Malinois – were better than humans at detecting egg masses in forested areas near vineyards, while people spotted them better than the dogs in vineyards.   The spotted lanternfly, which was first ...

New resource available to help scientists better classify cancer subtypes

2025-01-02
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Jan. 2, 2025) — A multi-institutional team of scientists has developed a free, publicly accessible resource to aid in classification of patient tumor samples based on distinct molecular features identified by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Network.       The resource comprises classifier models that can accelerate the design of cancer subtype-specific test kits for use in clinical trials and cancer diagnosis. This is an important advance because tumors belonging to different subtypes may vary in their response to cancer therapies.   The resource is the first of its kind to bridge the gap between TCGA’s immense data library ...

What happens when some cells are more like Dad than Mom

2025-01-02
NEW YORK, NY--New work by Columbia researchers has turned a textbook principle of genetics on its head and revealed why some people who carry disease-causing genes experience no symptoms. Every biology student learns that each cell in our body (except sperm and eggs) contains two copies of each gene, one from each parent, and each copy plays an equal part in the cell.  The new study shows that some cells are often biased when it comes to some genes and inactivate one parent’s copy. The phenomenon was discovered about a decade ago, but ...

CAR-T cells hold memories of past encounters

2025-01-02
AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 2, 2025) - Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered that some CAR-T cells engineered to fight cancer and other conditions carry the memory of past encounters with bacteria, viruses and other antigens within them, a finding that may allow scientists to manufacture the cells in more precise and targeted ways. The study, published today in the journal Nature Immunology, focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, an effective therapy against ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Does teamwork fulfill the goal of project-based learning?

Scientists link a phytoplankton bloom to starving dolphins in Florida

Local access to abortion services expanded with mifepristone in community pharmacies

KIMM lays groundwork for global expansion of “K-Machine” through strengthened international partnerships in Europe

Dietary shift after migration increases cardiovascular risk by altering the composition of an individual's gut microbiome

Viability of hospital-based emergency care in US faces peril

Exposure to air pollution may harm brain health of older adults

New study investigates effects of ADHD medications on the heart

Research to tackle Prymnesium algal blooms which affect fish populations

Climate and health litigation mounting in Australia as exposure to heatwaves grows

Young females more likely to experience higher social anxiety due to excessive smartphone use than other genders

New research boosts future whooping cough vaccines

Mechanistic understanding could enable better fast-charging batteries

No bones about it: new details about skeletal cell aging revealed

UNM scientists discover how nanoparticles of toxic metal used in MRI scans infiltrate human tissue

UMaine research examines best methods for growing Atlantic sea scallops

Medical cannabis could speed recovery, especially at community recovery homes

Study assesses U.S. image amid weakening of democracy

Two scientific researchers to receive 2025 Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships for Brain Health

Researchers improve chemical reaction that underpins products from foods to fuels

Texas Tech to develop semiconductor power devices through $6 million grant

Novel genomic screening tool enables precision reverse-engineering of genetic programming in cells

Hot Schrödinger cat states created

How cells repair their power plants

Oxygen is running low in inland waters—and humans are to blame

ACP’s Best Practice Advice addresses use of cannabis, cannabinoids for chronic noncancer pain

Beyond photorespiration: A systematic approach to unlocking enhanced plant productivity

How a small number of mutations can fuel outbreaks of western equine encephalitis virus

Exposure to wildfire smoke linked with worsening mental health conditions

Research uncovers hidden spread of one of the most common hospital-associated infections

[Press-News.org] Canadian forests are more prone to severe wildfires in recent decades
Summary author: Walter Beckwith