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Climate and Pacific Northwest fires: EPA research on air and water quality
Citation:
Markwiese, James. Climate and Pacific Northwest fires: EPA research on air and water quality. 2024 NATIONAL TRIBAL LEADERS CLIMATE SUMMIT, Seattle, WA, April 15 - 17, 2024.
Impact/Purpose:
This poster describes EPA research initiatives for characterizing wildfire risks on communities and landscapes and plans to use prescribed fire to inform post-fire management and regulatory actions. In particular, the Pacific Ecological Systems mobile ai quality laboratory will be described.
Description:
Historic droughts in western states driven by anthropogenic warming have resulted in an unprecedented increase in wildfire frequency and area burned. In the last few decades, fire acres burned in the United States have more than doubled, with concomitant increased risk to human health and the environment. In concert with state and other federal agencies, EPA is exploring how prescribed fire could mitigate impacts from wildfires in high-risk firesheds while balancing the potential impact that prescribed-fire smoke may have on communities in the western US, including numerous tribal communities in California, Oregon and Washington. This presentation will describe how the US Environmental Protection Agency is responding with innovative approaches to characterize fire and smoke effects on air and water quality in the Pacific Northwest. In particular, we will explore capabilities inherent in our newly designed, mobile air-quality monitoring laboratory and plans for future fire research.