Speaker: Mayra Oyola-Merced, Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, UW–Madison
Wildfires have become more frequent and severe across North America in recent decades. While much research has focused on the immediate impact of wildfires in their origin regions, less attention has been given to the downstream effects, where transported smoke can influence both air quality and severe weather formation.
Over the past 43 years, notable changes have been observed in the concentration of wildfire-related aerosols and gases, particularly black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), across the United States and Canada. These components of wildfire smoke contribute to atmospheric warming, poor air quality, cloud formation, and reduced visibility.
In this talk, Mayra Oyola Merced will discuss seasonal and regional trends in these aerosols and how transported aerosols from Western and Canadian wildfires influence severe weather patterns in the Midwest. She will also discuss how advanced machine learning techniques can be used to predict future aerosol concentrations and wildfire activity over the next decade.
This seminar can also be viewed via our live stream.
Hosted by the Climate, People and the Environment Program (CPEP).