Earth  ID: 10870

Ocean Temperatures Can Predict Amazon Fire Season Severity

Released on November 10, 2011
By analyzing nearly a decade of satellite data, a team of scientists led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine and funded by NASA has created a model that can successfully predict the severity and geographic distribution of fires in the Amazon rain forest and the rest of South America months in advance. Though previous research has shown that human settlement patterns are the primary factor that drives the distribution of fires in the Amazon, the new research demonstrates that environmental factors—specifically small variations in ocean temperatures—amplify human impacts and underpin much of the variability in the number of fires the region experiences from one year to the next.
Download Options
UC Irvine scientist Jim Randerson provides an overview of the findings, which appear this week in the journal Science.

For complete transcript, click here.

Download Options
UC Irvine scientist Jim Randerson describes the mechanism that links sea surface temperature to fire season severity in South America.
 

Related

Forecasting South American Fires

Credits

Kayvon Sharghi (USRA): Video Editor
Jim Randerson (University of California, Irvine): Interviewee
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA): Producer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10870

This item is part of these series:
Fires
Narrated Movies

Goddard TV Tape:
G2011-111 -- Jim Randerson Science Article Fires

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
DLESE >> Narrated
NASA Science >> Earth