Jennifer K. Balch

Jan 11, 2025 | almendron.com | Jennifer K. Balch

The fires burning in Southern California involve tens of thousands of acres, tiny in the context of all wildfires. And they moved with what might seem to some to be astonishing speed. In just 24 hours, the Palisades Fire grew more than 15,000 acres. That’s several football fields a minute. But fast-growing fires are now the norm. Using NASA satellite data, we studied more than 60,000 fires in the United States over nearly two decades.

Jan 10, 2025 | washingtonpost.com | Jennifer K. Balch |Ralph Bloemers

Jennifer Balch is a fire scientist and director of the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Ralph Bloemers is director of fire-safe communities for the Green Oregon Alliance. The fires burning in Southern California involve tens of thousands of acres, tiny in the context of all wildfires. And they moved with what might seem to some to be astonishing speed. In just 24 hours, the Palisades Fire grew more than 15,000 acres.

Dec 10, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Jennifer K. Balch |Tyler McIntosh |Tyler Mcintosh |Nayani T Ilangakoon |Karen Cummins

AbstractWildfires are doing necessary work for western US forests that have evolved with fire. Here we define "good fire" as areas that burn in an ecologically beneficial way, with a severity that is analogous to their historical fire regimes prior to European settlement. We focus on low-moderate severity wildfire as this type of burning can promote regeneration, even in the context of a warming climate (Davis et al., 2023).

Jul 12, 2024 | newswise.com | Jennifer K. Balch |James Randerson |Josh Roering |Andrew Vander Yacht

How do we stop the burn? - Wildfires in the US: A Growing ConcernNewswise — The recent surge in wildfires across the United States has become a pressing issue, affecting communities, ecosystems, and air quality. Wildfires' increasing frequency and intensity are alarming due to their immediate and long-term impacts. These fires pose a direct threat to human lives and properties and contribute to significant environmental and climate challenges.

Aug 14, 2023 | independent.ie | Jennifer K. Balch

Jennifer Balch: Devastating Hawaii wildfires show that investment in better safety procedures is badly neededThe devastation caused by a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii. Photo: GettyThe loss of life and property in Lahaina, Hawaii, is shocking even to a fire scientist. I have long assumed the next wildfire disaster was going to be in the super-dry American West, not on the tropical island of Maui.