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CNS Experts Weigh in on Recent Northeast Droughts and Fires

November 25, 2024 Careers

Content

A lake during a drought

This fall, the Northeast United States has been grappling with an alarming surge in droughts and wildfires. These have been fueled in part by record-breaking heat, low rainfall, and climate-driven shifts in weather patterns. Media outlets and others have been turning to members of the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst to better understand the causes for these natural phenomena and possible solutions. Below are a few of these conversations.

David Boutt

David Boutt, a professor in the Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences and head of the Hydrogeology Group at UMass Amherst, is quoted in a Boston Globe article about drought conditions and wildfires across Massachusetts and other parts of New England. “As we lengthen growing season because of climate change, that changes the water budget, which leaves us more susceptible to quick onset dry periods,” he says. Click here to read the Boston Globe article. Or, if you have access to UMass Amherst Libraries, you can read Boston Globe articles through ProQuest.

In a separate Boston Globe article, Boutt commented about the amount of rainfall needed to recover from the current drought in New England. “Because the soil moisture deficit is huge, groundwater will be slow to react,” Boutt told the Globe. “In order for groundwater and aquifers to recharge, it would take 2-3 months of above-average precipitation. However, if winter is cold, above-average precipitation won’t permeate partially frozen ground as effectively.” Read more in The Boston Globe or on ProQuest. Boutt also discussed the relationship between rainfall, drought, and fires in Scientific American and on NEPM.

With groundwater in mind, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has awarded a $498,999 grant to fund Boutt's efforts to build advanced integrated hydrologic models that will allow New England experts to predict with spatial precision how the region’s water budget will change in the coming years.

Anita Milman

Anita Milman, professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation, commented in an ABC News story about drought conditions across the Northeast. She argues that water levels in smaller reservoirs have likely decreased at faster rates than levels in larger reservoirs.

Michael Rawlins

Michael Rawlins, extension associate professor in the Department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences and the associate director of the Climate System Research Center at UMass Amherst, spoke with Slate and the Daily Hampshire Gazette about the role of climate change in the current drought and wildfires in the Northeast. Rawlins says a quickly warming Arctic may be causing short-term weather systems to linger. “Instead of a dry week, we’re seeing more like a dry two weeks or three weeks,” he says. To this point, Rawlins shared with MassLive that Amherst, MA and Hartford, CT saw their driest falls on record.

Content will be added to this article as more CNS researchers share their insights on this recent wave of droughts and fires.

Article posted in Careers for Faculty and Public

Related programs

  • Environmental Science

Related departments

  • Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences
  • Environmental Conservation

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