The costs of wildfires extend far beyond the burn zone. Wildfires can heat soil to temperatures up to 1,000潞 F (550潞 C), releasing higher听concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and other organic materials from the soil. When rain falls, those contaminants can be carried听into nearby watersheds,听increasing concentrations听by up to 700%. Downstream, municipal utilities must then spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra filtration costs to make the water safe to drink. Contaminant levels can remain elevated after a fire for up to 15 years.
抖阴旅行射 Boulder engineering professor and EVEN 顿颈谤别肠迟辞谤听Fernando Rosario-Ortiz听is working with CIRES researcher听Ben Livneh听on a way to model this phenomenon in order to provide more accurate and actionable information to the public. Together with their students, they've collaborated on a rainfall simulator, which can mimic the way that rain carries organic runoff away from burned vegetation.
