Emergent threats from the interactions of heat extremes and wildland fire across Alaska
Increasing heat and drought extremes are influencing the severity of wildfires in Alaska which, in turn, has led to an increase in smoky days. As a result, local communities are experiencing a rise in respiratory and cardiovascular issues. The researchers supported by this Alaska CASC project will collaborate with environmental health and fire management experts to create an interactive seasonal forecast tool to inform climate resilience for wildfire seasons as well as address community level impacts imposed by extreme heat and wildfire.
Project Summary
The boreal ecosystem in Alaska, predominantly situated between the Brooks Range and the Alaska Range, is naturally prone to seasonal wildfire. However, the frequency of severe, one-million acre plus wildfire seasons is increasing, and this is being accompanied by a rising trend in the number of smoky days. Most recently, Southcentral Alaska and Southwest Alaska in 2019 and 2022 respectively, experienced their worst wildfire seasons on record as well as a high number of smoky days, a trend that is expected to worsen as wildfires become more severe. Over time, this has led to greater respiratory and cardiovascular effects in populations unaccustomed to prolonged exposure to heat and smoke, revealing vulnerabilities to human health that need to be better understood, especially given the rate of observed climate warming in Alaska.
This project is designed to deliver actionable science by collaborating with experts in environmental health and fire management to ensure that project outcomes align with community health and land management needs in Alaska. Furthermore, this project will bolster climate awareness by identifying the connections between community-level impacts from these recent wildfire seasons and climate indicators, allowing researchers to work with our partners to effectively communicate these relationships. This will be accompanied by the development of an interactive seasonal forecast tool that uses large-scale meteorological patterns to forecast area burned by region in Alaska to enhance climate resilience for coming fire seasons. Collectively, the results of this project will assist our partners, while working on behalf of the public, to address questions related to the future magnitude and frequency of risks imposed by extreme heat and wildland fire in Alaska.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 66ff3119d34e80be174abbcd)
Increasing heat and drought extremes are influencing the severity of wildfires in Alaska which, in turn, has led to an increase in smoky days. As a result, local communities are experiencing a rise in respiratory and cardiovascular issues. The researchers supported by this Alaska CASC project will collaborate with environmental health and fire management experts to create an interactive seasonal forecast tool to inform climate resilience for wildfire seasons as well as address community level impacts imposed by extreme heat and wildfire.
Project Summary
The boreal ecosystem in Alaska, predominantly situated between the Brooks Range and the Alaska Range, is naturally prone to seasonal wildfire. However, the frequency of severe, one-million acre plus wildfire seasons is increasing, and this is being accompanied by a rising trend in the number of smoky days. Most recently, Southcentral Alaska and Southwest Alaska in 2019 and 2022 respectively, experienced their worst wildfire seasons on record as well as a high number of smoky days, a trend that is expected to worsen as wildfires become more severe. Over time, this has led to greater respiratory and cardiovascular effects in populations unaccustomed to prolonged exposure to heat and smoke, revealing vulnerabilities to human health that need to be better understood, especially given the rate of observed climate warming in Alaska.
This project is designed to deliver actionable science by collaborating with experts in environmental health and fire management to ensure that project outcomes align with community health and land management needs in Alaska. Furthermore, this project will bolster climate awareness by identifying the connections between community-level impacts from these recent wildfire seasons and climate indicators, allowing researchers to work with our partners to effectively communicate these relationships. This will be accompanied by the development of an interactive seasonal forecast tool that uses large-scale meteorological patterns to forecast area burned by region in Alaska to enhance climate resilience for coming fire seasons. Collectively, the results of this project will assist our partners, while working on behalf of the public, to address questions related to the future magnitude and frequency of risks imposed by extreme heat and wildland fire in Alaska.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 66ff3119d34e80be174abbcd)