Wildfires 101: Lasting Impacts

Narration: Katie Jepson

Transcript:

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Climate change is not only impacting the size

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and intensity of wildfires,

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but also their frequency in some regions.

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NASA has over 22 years of daily fire data

to track wildfire trends.

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This is important to get a sense

of how fire regimes, the historical

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frequency of wildfires in a region,

are changing over time.

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Understanding an ecosystem’s fire regime

is important, because in many instances

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wildfire is essential to maintain

a mixture of younger and older vegetation.

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However, when fires occur too

frequently or with increased severity,

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it can have devastating effects -

like destroying habitat,

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changing soil chemistry,

and clogging waterways,

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not to mention releasing greenhouse gases

like CO2 and aerosols into the atmosphere.

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NASA can study wildfires’ impact

on the landscape by measuring burn scars,

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as well as tracking vegetation

loss and rate of regrowth.

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Having an accurate assessment

of a landscape post-fire is a key

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part of understanding

how ecosystems recover over time.

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NASA's ability

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to not only track wildfires,

but also the conditions that lead to them

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is essential to our ability

to mitigate their impacts.

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We're working with land managers

and those on the front lines

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to give them the tools, including near

real-time data, to help them

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make decisions to minimize the risks

and plan for the future.