Geology News
Wildfire Current Events

“2012 was a historic year for extreme weather that included drought, wildfires, hurricanes and storms; however, tornado activity was below average. 2012 marked the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States with the year consisting of a record warm spring, second warmest summer, fourth warmest winter and a warmer-than-average autumn.” Quoted from the NOAA press release.

Munich Re has posted a 58-minute webinar that reviews natural catastrophe events for the United States and worldwide.

In 2012, insured losses in the United States were about $58 billion – far above average for the 2000-2011 period.

Did you know that the NOAA website has a tabulation of “Watches, Warnings and Advisories” for each of the 50 states? These include blizzard warnings, avalanche warnings, fire weather watches, wind advisories and much more.

“The primary goal of U.S. Geological Survey Natural Hazards Response is to ensure that the disaster response community has access to timely, accurate, and relevant geospatial products, imagery, and services during and after an emergency event. [...] Post-event imagery and analysis can provide important and timely information about the extent and severity of an event. USGS Natural Hazards Response will also support the coordination of remotely sensed data acquisitions, image distribution, and authoritative geospatial information production as required for use in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery operations.” Quoted from the USGS Fact Sheet.

“Each day, the U.S. Geological Survey produces 7-day forecasts for all Federal lands of the distributions of number of ignitions, number of fires above a given size, and conditional probabilities of fires growing larger than a specified size.” Quoted from the USGS press release.

“The Chips fire was first reported in Plumas National Forest on July 29, 2012, burning about 20 miles west of Quincy, California. By September 5, it had charred more than 75,000 acres. Though parts of the fire were still smoldering on that date, fire officials considered the blaze 100 percent contained.” Quoted from the NASA image release.

“Now researchers have another tool for observing fires around the world. The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite (S-NPP) carries an instrument so sensitive to low light levels that it can detect wildfires in the middle of the night.” Quoted from the NASA Earth Observatory image release.

Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt’s Nile Delta document the region’s ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time.

FEMA has published the website Ready.gov which provides lots of information about being prepared. Natural disasters make up an entire category on the site with lots of information on mitigation and how to citizens can prepare. Check it out.

NASA’s Earth Observatory is documenting the damage done by some of the recent western fires in the form of satellite images. This image shows the burn scar from the Waldo Canyon Fire that destroyed over 300 homes west of Colorado Springs in late June and early July.

This short article highlights the many types of support that USGS offers to wildfire mitigation efforts. They identify wildfire risk areas before fires occur, provide up-to-the-minute maps and satellite images, assess debris flow and flooding dangers after the fires…

“Every year many families unnecessarily lose their homes and possessions to wildland fire. These losses can be minimized if homeowners take the time to become aware of safety measures to help protect their homes and complete some effective actions.” Quoted from the National Interagency Fire Center.

“On June 18, 2012, a total of 198 wildfires burned across Russia and had charred an area that covered 8,330 hectares (32 square miles). Many were in central Russia, where firefighters have battled uncontrolled fires for months.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.

This open-file report presents materials from the 2012 Southwest Wildfire Hydrology & Hazards Workshop, including the workshop schedule, presentation abstracts, and a list of attendees. The oral presentations and posters are part of this report and are available for viewing.

“A plume of smoke stretched across the Bering Sea on May 11, 2012, just off of far eastern Russia. [...] The smoke may have arisen from wildfires in the region around Lake Baikal, where numerous wildfires burned in early May.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.

USGS has recently published: “Monitoring Floods and Fires during the Summer of 2011 — The Value of the Landsat Satellite 40-Year Archive“