Experts emphasize need for Interior Alaska wildfire mitigation
Earlier this summer, Interior Alaska wildfires were so widespread, Fairbanks resident Nettie La Belle-Hamer had to prepare a go-box in case the flames encroached too closely on her home.
La Belle-Hamer, deputy director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, brought that firsthand experience along with plenty of scientific knowledge to this year’s Arctic Encounter Symposium, an annual conference focused on the region.
La Belle-Hamer was joined by four other panelists — three of whom live in the Interior — to discuss methods to address wildfires in the Arctic, as well as strategies to implement fire mitigation in the Arctic to protect permafrost melt.
Continue reading on Anchorage Daily News.
In the northern ecosystems of the Alaskan boreal forest and tundra, wildfire is a natural – and even necessary – process. But as temperatures rapidly warm, wildfire frequency and severity in the state are breaking historical records.
Scientists at Woodwell Climate Research Center are studying the effects of these increased fires on the ecosystem. In a study published earlier this year, a research team led by Research Scientist Dr. Scott Zolkos examined the relationship between northern wildfires and one concerning byproduct of them: mercury pollution.
Higher temperatures, more wildfires, more pollution
In the last 25 years, Alaska has experienced some of the worst fire seasons on record. One of the reasons behind this is that climate change is hitting the north harder than other regions.
Northern latitudes, including the Arctic and boreal regions, are warming three to four times faster than the rest of the planet. As warmer temperatures melt snow earlier in the year and dry out soil and vegetation, the fire season lengthens and intensifies. According to Woodwell scientists, 2024 was the second-highest year for wildfire emissions north of the Arctic Circle.
“It’s really sort of a new phenomenon, the level of burning we’re seeing in the tundra,” Dr. Brendan Rogers, Senior Scientist, says.
Increasing fires means increasing air, water, and ecosystem pollution from the byproducts of burning vegetation and soils. Mercury is a toxic pollutant in wildfire smoke, but there is sparse research on mercury release from northern peatland wildfires which means scientists don’t yet have a great understanding of how increasing northern wildfire activity could counteract efforts to curtail human-caused mercury release. To understand these impacts, Zolkos and collaborators studied areas of the Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) Delta in southwestern Alaska— a peatland environment that burned in 2015. The summer of 2015 made history as one of Alaska’s worst fire seasons, with over 5 million acres of land burned.
The research team used peatland soil samples that were collected between 2016 and 2018 by undergraduate participants of The Polaris Project to measure mercury. They then used the new mercury data together with organic carbon and burn depth measurements from another recent study to develop models that predicted mercury emissions from the 2015 wildfires.
Measuring mercury release
Mercury continuously cycles through the environment in air, water and soil, often changing between liquid and gaseous forms. It enters the atmosphere as emissions from human activities like the burning of fossil fuels and natural processes like wildfires and volcanoes. High levels of mercury can accumulate in the ground when vegetation takes up mercury from the atmosphere, then decomposes and deposits it into the soil. In northern peatlands, mercury has been accumulating with organic matter for thousands of years.
Mercury emissions occur when wildfire burns organic matter in soil and releases mercury that is bound to it back into the atmosphere. With increased temperatures and wildfire activity, the stabilization accumulation of mercury in the soil is threatened – and so is air quality.
“There are huge mercury stores in northern peatlands,” Zolkos says. “If peatlands burn more, it could potentially offset global efforts to reduce human mercury release into the environment.”
Zolkos and collaborators found that levels of mercury in peat in the YK Delta were similar to those in peatlands elsewhere in the north. Using an atmospheric chemical transport model developed by collaborators, the researchers also found that mercury deposition within 10 kilometers of wildfire sites was two times higher than normal, even though the majority of emissions from the fire traveled beyond Alaska.
With this information, Zolkos believes that increasing fire activity has the potential to unlock large amounts of soil-bound mercury in the North. The challenge now is figuring out exactly how much mercury is being released and where it ends up.
As a step to understanding this, Zolkos is leading a pilot project to develop an atmospheric mercury monitoring network across wildfire-susceptible peatlands in Alaska and Canada. Twenty-six air samplers, which collect mercury molecules in the air, were deployed at seven sites in Arctic-boreal peatlands across Alaska and Canada during the summers of 2024 and 2025. After the 2025 summer season is complete, the samplers will be sent to a lab at Harvard University, where Zolkos will measure their mercury content.
“Our goal is to work with collaborators to deploy these simple and cost-effective samplers that capture mercury in the atmosphere,” Zolkos says. “And from that, we can back-calculate the concentration of mercury in the air to understand wildfire impacts.”
By studying trends, Zolkos can compare levels of mercury in the air in areas affected and not affected by wildfire. And with added contextual data, scientists can model how much mercury might have been released from the soil and vegetation by wildfire.
Understanding wildfire impacts on air quality
In addition to containing mercury, wildfire smoke also emits particulate matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 refers to particles that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter – thirty times smaller than the average human hair. When breathed in, they can affect the heart and lungs and cause a variety of health problems, including aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, and increased respiratory symptoms.
Together with collaborators from the Permafrost Pathways project, Zolkos is also collaborating with Alaska Native communities to install PurpleAir sensors, a system of particulate matter monitors, to support tribally-led wildfire air pollution monitoring. This project helps to address monitoring needs in Alaska, where nearly 90% of rural communities reached or exceeded unhealthy levels of PM2.5 at least once due to wildfire in the last two decades.
“It’s a really great opportunity to work together with Alaskan Native communities and also to share knowledge, learn from them, and try and help them with any needs that they have for environmental monitoring,” Zolkos says.
So far, particulate matter sensors have been deployed in Pond Inlet in Nunavut, Canada, Churchill in Manitoba, Canada, and Akiachak, Alaska.
“The complex impacts of wildfire on Arctic and global communities is not something that can be solved by taking a measurement and seeing a number alone. These climate health impacts require a more holistic way of thinking and doing research” Dr. Sue Natali, Senior Scientist and lead of the Permafrost Pathways project, says. “What gives me hope is that the Western scientific community is now listening and hearing more from Indigenous partners to co-produce research to support climate resilient communities,”
Late July’s oppressive heat forecast isn’t normal
A punishing heat wave will bring hot temperatures to eastern US and linger for several days, underscoring how climate change heats things up.
As the clock ticks down the final days of July, thermometers will climb across much of the eastern half of the United States, creating a dangerous and long-lasting heat wave that will put millions at risk of heat stroke and other illnesses.
Those in the path of the heat wave should plan to take extra measures to stay cool through at least July 30. Keep things chill by staying in air-conditioned spaces, visit friends with pools, pile up the popsicles and lemonade and pull out the recipe for your favorite cold summer salad.
At Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia, dozens of people in uniform position themselves along the edge of a pine stand as multiple aircraft approach overhead and a helicopter starts dropping incendiary devices into the forest in front of them. This may sound like a military training exercise but it is not. It is the NASA FireSense campaign, co-led in partnership with the Department of Defense and the U.S. Forest Service, a carefully planned and coordinated set of scientific experiments being used to better understand wildfires.
As wildfires get more frequent, intense, and destructive due to human activity, scientists are coming up with new and creative ways to study them. This is what brought me to this collaborative project at Fort Stewart in March 2025 for a week of prescribed burns and intensive wildfire research.
I’m an ecologist at Woodwell Climate Research Center working to understand how climate change is altering wildfires in boreal forests and the Arctic. I improve ecosystem models— computer software programs that simulate how ecosystems work— to better predict wildfire under a changing climate. This requires a holistic understanding of wildfires: from the way plants grow and produce fuels, to the weather that leads to fires, to how fires spread and grow. For me, getting out in the field is an important way to confirm that my computer simulations are behaving like real fires.
Wildfires can be a difficult and dangerous environment in which to do research. For this reason, wildfire research is sometimes done during prescribed fires. Prescribed or controlled burns are lit by trained professionals to reduce the buildup of natural fuels and to benefit plants and wildlife, especially in ecosystems that historically had regular wildfires. Fort Stewart has one of the largest prescribed fire programs in the United States, burning around 115 thousand acres every year. Burns are performed both to protect soldiers from wildfires that can easily start during military training exercises, as well as to manage the base’s pine forests for the recovery of several threatened and endangered species including the red-cockaded woodpecker and the smooth coneflower. This makes it a great location to do research. Unlike wildfires, controlled burns allow researchers to know exactly when and where a fire will occur, giving them time to plan safe research projects.
This most recent experimental burn campaign represents a new level of cooperative effort to study wildland fire at all stages. While the Environment and Natural Resources Division Forestry Branch at Fort Stewart conducted the prescribed burns, researchers from NASA and seven DoD Strategic Environmental Research and Development (SERDP) funded research projects deployed weather stations, fire sensors, cameras, and emberometers on the ground. NASA flew three aircraft overhead with advanced sensors aimed at the fire below and a radar truck monitored the smoke plume. Fuels were measured with LIDAR scanners before and after the fires to detect what burned. During the fire, fuel moisture was measured. The ability to study conditions before, during, and after a fire gives a more complete picture of fire behavior compared to a wildfire where researchers are often limited to data gathered after the threat of the fire has passed.
Working together like this makes for more than just good science, it also builds community. Like all scientists, wildfire researchers tend to be specialized, with some studying fuels, while others study smoke, or the energy produced by the flames. Bringing these people together allows them to share ideas, discuss problems, and learn new experimental techniques. These connections and conversations are what spark new ideas and collaborations that push science forward. For me this was a valuable opportunity to meet other researchers, discuss ideas, and to learn how to perform experiments safely in a fire, something that could help me improve my wildfire models in the future.
The FireSense campaign at Fort Stewart went off without a hitch. The data collected during the campaign will take many months to analyze, but the hope is that this campaign will act as a model for a new era of cooperative wildfire research. Planning for another campaign next year in Florida is already under way and in the meantime I’ve returned to my lab to refine my code and apply what I’ve learned in preparation for the next fire.
Woodwell Climate is pleased to announce the appointment of Thomas (Tod) J. Hynes III as Chair of the Board of Directors, as well as the addition of three new board members, Jainey Bavishi, Jean A. Rogers, and Aniket Shah. The new directors began their three-year terms in June.
Hynes succeeds C. Gail Greenwald, who served as Chair of the Board from 2022 to 2025. Over the last two decades, Hynes has started and invested in over 20 companies in the climate and energy space.
Jainey Bavishi is a climate resilience expert who has led efforts across federal, local, and nonprofit sectors including serving in the Biden administration as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Jean Rogers, founder of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), is a respected global leader in the measurement and management of environmental impacts associated with sustainable development and financing the energy transition and climate solutions. Aniket Shah has spent his career at the intersection of global finance, economic development, and climate change. He leads a research and advisory effort on energy transition and sustainable business efforts at Jefferies.
“I’m excited and grateful that these incredibly impressive individuals will be sharing their talents with us,” said Woodwell President and CEO, Max Holmes. “They bring tremendous energy, expertise, and insight and we are fortunate to have them join the Woodwell team.”
Bavishi, Rogers, and Shah replace Joseph J. Mueller and Stephanie Tomasky, who recently concluded their tenure.
About Tod Hynes
Hynes is a Senior Lecturer at MIT where he teaches a graduate course called Climate & Energy Ventures and advises the MIT Climate & Energy Prize which he also co-founded. He also serves as a Senior Advisor for Climate & Energy at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. Hynes is the CEO and Co-founder of Maigent, a company creating private AI tools that help experts amplify their skills and securely manage their information. He also founded Clymate Studios to help others help the climate.
About Jainey Bavishi
Bavishi is a distinguished expert in the field of climate adaptation and resilience. She most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, guiding national efforts on climate resilience, marine conservation, and the implementation of major federal investments under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Previously, she directed the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency and served in the Obama White House as Associate Director for Climate Preparedness. Earlier in her career, she led initiatives on disaster risk reduction in the Asia Pacific and supported equitable recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast.
About Jean Rogers
Rogers has spent her career integrating sustainability into mainstream investment analysis. Under her leadership of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, the organization created standards enabling investors to benchmark sustainability performance across 80 industries. Most recently, she was Blackstone’s Senior Managing Director and ESG Chairperson where she oversaw the firm’s integration of sustainability factors into asset management while serving on the investment committees for certain private equity and private credit funds deploying more than $12B globally toward energy transition and climate solutions. She is currently an operating advisor to private equity funds such as Pegasus and Palistar Capital. Rogers began her career as an environmental engineer for Arup leading sustainable development projects throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.
About Aniket Shah
Shah is Founder, Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability, Transition and Washington Strategy at Jefferies where he leads a research and advisory effort for investors, corporates, and sovereigns on their energy transition and sustainable business efforts and advises clients on the interface between public policy and investment decision-making. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Shah previously held prominent roles at UBS, OppenheimerFunds, and Investec Asset Management, and in the public sector at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
For 1st time, fires are biggest threat to forests’ climate-fighting superpower
Forests play a major role pulling planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. As the world heats up, some forests are becoming emitters in their own right.
In 2023 and 2024 the world’s forests absorbed only a quarter of the carbon dioxide they did in the beginning of the 21st century, according to data from the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch.
Those back-to-back years of record-breaking wildfires hampered forests’ ability to tuck away billions of tons of carbon dioxide, curbing some of the global warming caused by emissions from burning fossil fuels.
Keep reading on The New York Times.
Woodwell Climate Conversations: Turning the Tide
Climate Progress, Peril, and the Path Ahead
Join Gina McCarthy and Max Holmes for a timely conversation on how bold, science-based action drove historic progress—and what’s at stake as that progress faces new political threats.
Notes from an ecologist: Factoring in rivers and streams when studying bay health
On the morning of July 7, more than a hundred volunteers from Buzzards Bay Coalition Baywatchers fanned out to the more than 30 small embayments that surround Buzzards Bay to collect the first round of this summer’s four sets of water quality samples.
By mid-afternoon we had large and small bottles from more than 200 different stations lined up on the tables at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, where the samples enter an assembly line of different laboratory analyses that include different forms of nitrogen and the concentration of chlorophyll—the main pigment in algae and an excellent metric of the amount of algae in the water.
Read more on The Falmouth Enterprise.