A Week of Smoky Skies Across North America
A Week of Smoky Skies Across North America

Brown carbon, emitted by wildland fires and tracked over the span of a week in July 2026, worsened air quality in parts of the U.S. and Canada.

New NASA Earth Missions Gear Up to Start Science Flights  
New NASA Earth Missions Gear Up to Start Science Flights  

The first of six new airborne campaigns will hit the skies this summer.

Ontario Wildfire Smoke Moves East
Ontario Wildfire Smoke Moves East

Canadian wildfires sent plumes of smoke streaming over Ontario, Quebec, and parts of the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.

Cottonwood Fire Chars Utah
Cottonwood Fire Chars Utah

The blaze burned more than 150 square miles and swept through parts of a ski resort.

NASA’s PACE Mission Studies Smoke, Fires
NASA’s PACE Mission Studies Smoke, Fires

With the North American fire season underway, and a record number of acres already burned nationwide, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite’s three instruments are observing vegetation precursors to fires, along with plumes of smoke and their movement. This data will help scientists piece together clues that deepen their understanding of wildfires. […]

Fighting Fire With Fire
Fighting Fire With Fire

In fire-prone ecosystems in Australia’s Northern Territory, prescribed burns are lit to minimize the severity of fires later in the season.

NASA-Funded Study Shows Wildfire Smoke’s Hidden Ozone Toll
NASA-Funded Study Shows Wildfire Smoke’s Hidden Ozone Toll

Over the last decade, wildfires have worsened ground-level ozone pollution across much of the contiguous United States, creating unhealthy air far from active flames.

Fire’s Footprint on Santa Rosa Island
Fire’s Footprint on Santa Rosa Island

A wildland fire charred grassland, coastal sage scrub, and chaparral across one-third of the island, the second largest of the Channel Islands.

NASA Develops Sensor to Improve Firefighter Safety
NASA Develops Sensor to Improve Firefighter Safety

With peak wildfire season approaching, scientists with NASA’s FireSense project have created low-cost thermal sensors to install on fire bulldozers that will alert firefighters when heat from a nearby fire reaches a dangerous level. The sensors also provide researchers with important data on what happens beneath the canopy during a fire. In April, researchers and […]

Fires Rage in Georgia
Fires Rage in Georgia

Firefighters are battling two destructive blazes in the southern part of the state as drought grips the U.S. Southeast.