Fire
Concurrent extreme fire weather creates favorable conditions for widespread large fires, which can complicate the coordination of fire suppression resources and degrade regional air quality. Here, we examine the patterns and trends of intra- and interregional synchronous fire weather (SFW) and explore their links to climate variability and air quality impacts. We find climatologically elevated intraregional SFW in boreal regions, as well as interregional synchronicity among northern temperate and boreal regions. Significant increases in SFW occurred during 1979 to 2024, with more than a twofold increase observed in most regions. We estimate that over half of the observed increase is attributable to anthropogenic climate change. Internal modes of climate variability strongly influence SFW in several regions, including Equatorial Asia, which experiences 43 additional intraregional SFW days during El Niño years. Furthermore, SFW is strongly correlated with regional fire-sourced PM2.5 in multiple regions globally. These findings highlight the growing challenges posed by SFW for firefighting coordination and human health.
I am an early- climate scientist pushing the boundaries of understanding wildfires and climate extremes using hydroclimatic, data-driven, and geostatistical approaches. My work has led to step-changes in understanding the synchronicity and persistence of extreme fire weather, factors that strongly influence extreme fire activity. I focus my recent work on extreme wildfires, one of the most societally and environmentally destructive consequences of climate change. I increasingly concentrate on predicting extreme wildfires and developing a mechanistic understanding of their causes, contributing to advances in fire science and fire management, with the potential to save lives and property.
I work with Prof. John Abatzoglou, who leads the Climatology Lab at University of California, Merced.