Forests
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While most people think of wildfires as a Western phenomenon, events this year have pointed out that the Southeast is also an area that is ripe for wildfires. An recent article by Lyndsey Gilpin at https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-southeast-is-becoming-a-wildfire-hotspot/ describes the increases in wildfires in the Southeast over time. The article discusses whether wildfires are becoming more frequent and…
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High winds with gusts to 70 mph ahead of the cold front that is moving into the Southeast caused forest fires in North Carolina and Tennessee to flare up, resulting in a panicked evacuation of Gatlinburg TN late in the evening on the 28th. You can see pictures and video of the smoke and fire…
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While many parts of the Southeast are in very bad drought conditions, we are not the only place in the US that is being affected by drought. The drought in the Northeast, fortunately, seems to be waning as they go into the winter wet season. In northern California, El Niño rains last year put a…
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The Southeast Farm Press posted a story today about the negative impacts of the exceptional Southeast drought on the timber industry in Alabama (although the comments are generally true for the rest of the Southeast as well). It points out that the drought and fires will have take a severe toll on forests this year…
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The wind shifted direction today and Athens had less smoke than earlier this week, although you could see the smoky cloud band to the northeast. Other areas were getting the smoke instead. Here in Athens we will have a reprieve for a day or so as the winds turn to come from the south ahead…
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The smoke has cleared, at least temporarily, from Athens this morning and it smells less smoky, which means the plume is now going elsewhere. Here are a couple of pictures of the Rough Ridge fire in northern GA which the NWS Peachtree City posted yesterday. You can read more about efforts to fight these fires…
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The Nature Conservancy has a new study about the value of planting trees in cities. The study looked at both the impacts on reducing temperature in urban areas but also reducing particulates through absorption by the trees. You can read a description of the work at The Atlantic CityLab at https://www.citylab.com/design/2016/10/the-big-green-payoff-from-bigger-urban-forests/505913/. You can read the…