The Guardian maps the devastation wrought by wildfires across the globe. “Brazil, Bolivia, Russia, Australia and Canada have all endured some of their worst fire seasons in recent years, as heatwaves stoked by fossil fuel pollution drive the risk of extreme blazes higher. The maps, using data from the University of Maryland, show some of the hardest-hit forests.”
Category: Weather and Climate
Some Canadian Homeowners Are Pushing Back Against Flood Maps
The Narwhal reports that flood map updates are getting pushback in Canada too:
As provinces and municipalities amend decades-old flood maps and strengthen flood preparedness measures in the face of inclement climate change, a vocal minority of homeowners are pushing back. Some argue governments have failed to properly consult local communities and overlooked personal, on-the-ground mitigation measures. Others say their elected officials are focusing too much on penalizing property owners instead of initiatives that would reduce flood risk. But most express concern about their home values and insurance costs: last year, insurance company Desjardins announced it would no longer offer mortgages in Quebec’s high-risk flood zones.
Per the article, a big part of the problem is that despite flooding being the main risk from climate change, Canada is decades behind relative to other G7 countries in terms of flood planning, so a lot of this is new to people.
Related: Why FEMA Flood Maps Are Contentious.
Previously: Quebec Flood Maps Will Get a New Framework Next Year; The CBC on Inaccessible Flood Maps; Quebec’s Updated Flood Maps Prove Controversial; Quebec Flood Maps.
Why FEMA Flood Maps Are Contentious
Two recent articles on the contentiousness that breaks out at the local level when FEMA updates its flood maps. Jordan Wolman’s piece in the Commonwealth Beacon focuses on the disconnect between FEMA’s maps and actual flooding risk in Massachusetts (as has been noted before, FEMA flood maps are based on past flooding and can’t make projections based on expected climate change effects). Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal [Apple News+ alt link] looks at how properties in a Montana town that were removed from the flood zone in proposed FEMA maps were later inundated by floods (properties in flood zones require flood insurance, and face additional restrictions, so there are incentives to appeal that designation; on the other hand, if you win your appeal and your property floods anyway and you don’t have flood insurance, well).
First Radar Images from NISAR
Preliminary images are in from the newly launched NISAR Earth-observing radar satellite. A joint mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), NISAR will use L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar to produce images of land cover, soil moisture, vegetation, sea and ice and so forth at resolutions of five to ten metres. (For comparison, SRTM’s resolution is one arcsecond—30 metres at the equator.)
Misinformation, Conspiracy Theories, and the Oregon Wildfire Map
“In the end, what’s most remarkable about the campaign against Oregon’s wildfire map isn’t that misinformation found an audience. It’s that it worked.” ProPublica looks at how misinformation and conspiracy theories led to the downfall of Oregon’s wildfire hazard map.
NOAA Will Continue to Receive Vital Satellite Data After All
NOAA’s hurricane forecasts will continue to be able to use data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Michael Lowry reports that in a last-minute reversal, the U.S. Department of Defense will continue to allow NOAA to have access to that data for the remainder of the satellites’ lifespan (about a year or two). NOAA and NASA had been told that they’d lose access to the data today: see previous entry. In an earlier post Lowry challenged the notion that a viable substitute could be found for the DMSP’s Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) data, the loss of which he described as “significant and devastating” to hurricane forecasting. [Wonkette]
Sharpiegate Investigators Placed on Leave
CNN reports that two NOAA officials who led the internal “Sharpiegate” inquiry—which found that NOAA leadership violated its ethical standards and scientific integrity policy when they backed Trump’s Sharpie-adjusted hurricane forecast map—were placed on administrative leave on Thursday. In a complete coincidence, one of the officials they found in violation, then-acting NOAA administrator Neil Jacobs, has been nominated to become Trump’s new NOAA administrator, with a committee vote on his nomination coming next week.
Previously: Inside NOAA During Trump’s Sharpie Mapmaking Period.
Mapping the Best Places to See the Aurora Borealis
Harry Kuril built a computer model to identify the places with a best chance to catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis during a short visit, assigning scores based on aurora intensity, cloud cover and light pollution data. The above map is the result. [Maps.com]
Defense Department Cuts Off NOAA, NASA from Key Satellite Data Used in Hurricane Forecasting
Citing cybersecurity concerns, the U.S. Department of Defense is cutting off NOAA and NASA access to data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), throwing a wrench into the NOAA’s ability to forecast hurricanes, CNN reports. Of particular concern is the loss of access to the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS). CNN explains:
This tool is like a 3D X-ray of tropical storms and hurricanes, revealing where the strongest rain bands and winds are likely to be and how they are shifting.
Such imagery provides forecasters with information about a storm’s inner structure and is one of the limited ways they can discern how quickly and significantly a storm’s intensity is changing, particularly at night and during periods when hurricane hunter aircraft are not flying in the storm.
It does not appear that the agencies were given notice of this move. They managed to negotiate a one-month extension, to July 31. NOAA says it can use other sources for its hurricane forecasts.
Quebec Flood Maps Will Get a New Framework Next Year
It seems as though the Quebec government has been in the process of updating its flood maps for the better part of the past decade (previously: Quebec’s Updated Flood Maps Prove Controversial; Quebec Flood Maps). But starting next March Quebec’s flood maps will adopt a new framework categorizing flood zones by risk (low, moderate, high, very high), with a special category for areas located near dams or flood protection structures. This page (in French) explains how the new maps—which aren’t yet available—will work. The upshot is that more homes in Quebec will find themselves in a flood zone (though fewer than was feared last year), but likely in the lowest-risk category.
Wildfires in Canada
So we’ve had some wildfires on our plate here in Canada. CBC News has a page tracking wildfires in Canada, including maps of wildfire location, risk and smoke. Richard points out that FireSmoke Canada (previously) is a forecast map, not a map of actual conditions, for which see AQMap.ca, which tracks fine particulate (PM2.5) monitors across Canada.
FEMA Risk Maps Purged
The current U.S. administration’s map vandalism isn’t limited to a certain international body of water. Maps Mania reports that FEMA’s online flood and risk maps have gone offline as part of the ongoing purge of everything related to climate change. One map, the Future Risk Index, has been salvaged by independent engineers.
Watch Duty
In the wake of the recent wildfires in southern California, Watch Duty—a simple, free app that provides real-time fire maps and alerts, and which prizes, and is prized for, accurate data, collated by its volunteer reporters—has become the most popular app on the App Store and is being hailed as an essential lifeline: see The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Verge, Washington Post (paywalls on some links).
California Wildfires, January 2025
Online maps of the current wildfires burning near Los Angeles:
- California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) has incident pages for the Eaton, Hurst and Palisades fires, plus this 3D incident map.
- The Los Angeles Times map marks fire origins and evacuation zones.
- Watch Duty is a nonprofit that also has an app.
Update, 3:50 PM EST (via Lauren Tierney):
- Esri’s Wildlife Aware map sorts fires by personnel assigned to fight them.
- Another 3D map from CAL FIRE.
Update, 10 Jan at 1:45 PM EST:
Update, 13 Jan at 9:35 PM EST:
- Good Maps of the L.A. Fires: “a summary of the geospatial industry’s efforts to map and analyse the L.A. fires over the past 5 days.” [via]
Mapping Pacific Island Flooding
Pacific nations like Fiji, Kiribati and Tuvalu will face at least 15 cm of sea level rise over the next 30 years, according to a NASA analysis. “In addition to the overall analysis, the agency’s sea level team produced high-resolution maps showing which areas of different Pacific Island nations will be vulnerable to high-tide flooding—otherwise known as nuisance flooding or sunny day flooding—by the 2050s. Released on Sept. 23, the maps outline flooding potential in a range of emissions scenarios, from best-case to business-as-usual to worst-case.” [Universe Today]