Major forest fires are tramping their way across thousands of acres of Western land. The U.S. Forest Service reports that there are 70 large uncontained fires across the United States, most of which are spread across Idaho, California, Nevada and Oregon To see the West burn in near-real time, check out this map that shows fire activity over the last 6, 12 and 24 hours (click on the pdf on the right-hand side). ... Read More
10 Memorable Threads from 2010
December 28, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
The short days in the Northern Hemisphere produce a peculiar journalistic crop, the Top 10 list. At Miller-McCune.com, we’re not immune to the pull of that chestnut, but the wonk rays so prevalent here force a mutation. Instead of a Top 10 list, here’s 10 for 2010, stories that are popular and memorable but without the baggage of perfection as determined in a year-end frenzy of instantaneous deliberation. Of course, some of the best movies never get nominated for Oscars, and so it is here. We’ll make apologies to stalwarts like Jai Ranganathan (of Curiouser & Curiouser fame) or ... Read More
Out of Control Wildfires: a California-size Disaster
December 2, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
The natural beauty of southern California is famous around the world. But that beauty comes with a price: giant wildfires that threaten to engulf cities almost every year. How do we prevent these fires? And if the fires are a natural part of local ecosystems, will prevention efforts cause even bigger problems down the road? Into the debate steps Max Moritz, a fire ecologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. In a recent article in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, he shows that large wildfires are an inevitable part of living in Southern California, as ... Read More
Some Smart Solutions Going Forward
February 22, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
The war being waged against wildfires from Southern California to Greece and Australia is almost as complex as the infernos themselves. Innovative computer mapping tools advance, as do airborne imaging techniques that can look straight through black smoke for views of emerging dangers no firefighter ever sees. However, some crews battle blazes on bulldozers older than they are, and funding is tight all around. Still, the breakthroughs keep coming. Part I: THE POWER OF ‘LOOK-DOWN’ TECHNOLOGY Part II: UNDERSTANDING WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR AND PREDICTING ITS SPREAD Part III: WHAT’S REALLY ... Read More
Catching Arsonists Red-Handed
February 15, 2010 • By • 2 Comments
The war being waged against wildfires from Southern California to Greece and Australia is almost as complex as the infernos themselves. Innovative computer mapping tools advance, as do airborne imaging techniques that can look straight through black smoke for views of emerging dangers no firefighter ever sees. However, some crews battle blazes on bulldozers older than they are, and funding is tight all around. Still, the breakthroughs keep coming. Part I: THE POWER OF ‘LOOK-DOWN’ TECHNOLOGY Part II: UNDERSTANDING WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR AND PREDICTING ITS SPREAD Part III: WHAT’S REALLY ... Read More
What’s Really Happening on U.S. Firelines?
February 8, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
The war being waged against wildfires from Southern California to Greece and Australia is almost as complex as the infernos themselves. Innovative computer mapping tools advance, as do airborne imaging techniques that can look straight through black smoke for views of emerging dangers no firefighter ever sees. However, some crews battle blazes on bulldozers older than they are, and funding is tight all around. Still, the breakthroughs keep coming. Part I: THE POWER OF 'LOOK-DOWN' TECHNOLOGY Part II: UNDERSTANDING WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR AND PREDICTING ITS SPREAD Part III: WHAT'S REALLY ... Read More
Smokey Bear Now Studies Computer Science
February 1, 2010 • By • 2 Comments
The war being waged against wildfires from Southern California to Greece and Australia is almost as complex as the infernos themselves. Innovative computer mapping tools advance, as do airborne imaging techniques that can look straight through black smoke for views of emerging dangers no firefighter ever sees. However, some crews battle blazes on bulldozers older than they are, and funding is tight all around. Still, the breakthroughs keep coming. Part I: THE POWER OF ‘LOOK-DOWN' TECHNOLOGY Part II: UNDERSTANDING WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR AND PREDICTING ITS SPREAD Part III: WHAT'S REALLY ... Read More
The Fires Down Below: ‘Look-Down’ Technology
January 25, 2010 • By • 2 Comments
The war being waged against wildfires from Southern California to Greece and Australia is almost as complex as the infernos themselves. Innovative computer mapping tools advance, as do airborne imaging techniques that can look straight through black smoke for views of emerging dangers no firefighter ever sees. However, some crews battle blazes on bulldozers older than they are, and funding is tight all around. Still, the breakthroughs keep coming. This is the first part of a five-part series looking at firefighting: Part I: THE FIRES DOWN BELOW: ‘LOOK-DOWN' TECHNOLOGY Part II: ... Read More
Drought, Not ‘Old Chaparral,’ Aiding Wildfires
August 25, 2009 • By • 1 Comment
The communities of scrub and shrub known as chaparral have been the scenes of the biggest — and most expensive-to-fight — wildfires in California, many of which have occurred during the last five years. The increased frequency of these fires, as well as their size and intensity, have accelerated the study of chaparral especially as millions of people and billions of dollars of property now nestle alongside it. Attitudes toward chaparral and fire have changed drastically since Europeans arrived. During the 19th century and half the 20th, chaparral — found along the Pacific Coast and ... Read More
Media Cool to Linking Wildfires, Climate Change
June 29, 2009 • By • 3 Comments
Early last summer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that California's fire season now lasts all 365 days of the year. At the time, nearly 2,000 separate wildfires were burning across the Golden State; the governor made his declaration during a press conference in Santa Barbara, Calif., where a major conflagration was scorching the hills just north of the city. Since then, Santa Barbara, where Miller-McCune is headquartered, has endured two more major fires — one in November and one in May, both well out of what in past years was considered the natural fire season. These fires have ... Read More
