LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 6, 2023—Ponderosa pine forests in the Sierra Nevada that were wiped out by western pine beetles during the 2012-2015 megadrought won’t recover to pre-drought densities, reducing an important storehouse for atmospheric carbon. “Forests store huge amounts of atmospheric carbon, so when western pine beetle infestations kill off millions of trees, that […]
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Posted inEnviro
Validation brings new predictive capability to global megafire smoke impacts
New research modeling smoke from two recent megafires sets the stage for better forecasting of how emissions from these global-scale events will behave and impact temperatures. As huge wildfires become more common under climate change, increased attention has focused on the intensity and duration of their emissions, which rival those of some volcano eruptions. Megafires […]