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The Hill
26-06-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Prescribed burns can help reduce fire intensity and smoke pollution: Study
Prescribed burns can decrease the severity of future fires by about 16 percent and slash smoke pollution by 14 percent, a new study has found. These controlled blazes are much more effective outside the wildland-urban interface (WUI) — the area where homes meet wild vegetation — than within it, according to the study, published on Thursday in AGU Advances. 'Prescribed fire is often promoted as a promising tool in theory to dampen wildfire impacts, but we show clear empirical evidence that prescribed burning works in practice,' lead author Makoto Kelp, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, said in a statement. 'It's not a cure-all, but it's a strategy that can reduce harm from extreme wildfires when used effectively,' Kelp added. Experts already consider prescribed burns to be an effective strategy for curbing the threat of wildfires, the researchers acknowledged, noting that $2 billion in federal funds are allocated to such treatments. Yet they also pointed out that the use of these controlled blazes across the U.S. West has only expanded slightly in recent years. This discrepancy, they surmised, could be due to the lack of research quantifying the practice's effectiveness and mixed public opinions on the matter. To enumerate the benefits of the burns, the scientists used high-resolution satellite imagery, land management records and smoke emission inventories to compare outcomes of treated and untreated areas in the extreme 2020 fire season. Specifically, they focused on places treated with controlled fire between late 2018 and spring 2020 and at adjacent untreated zones. Their analysis ultimately showed that areas treated with prescribed fire burned less severely and generated much less smoke. That finding was particularly important to the authors, who stressed that fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) emitted by wildfires has been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory issues. 'Smoke is a silent and far-reaching hazard, and prescribed fire may be one of the few tools that actually reduces total smoke exposure,' co-author Marshall Burke, an associate professor of environmental social sciences at Stanford, said in a statement. Meanwhile, the scientists found that controlled burns produce only about 17 percent of the PM 2.6 smoke that would result from a wildfire in the same area. They estimated that if California achieved its goals of treating a million acres with prescribed fire annually, the Golden State could slash PM 2.5 emissions by 655,000 tons over five years. That quantity would be equivalent to 52 percent of the total smoke pollution generated during California's 2020 wildfire season, according to the study. As far as the different effects in WUI and non-WUI zones are concerned, the authors found that prescribed burns led to an 8.5 percent drop in fire severity in the former and a 20 percent decline in the latter. In WUI zones, they noted, agencies usually opt for mechanical thinning over prescribed burns due to smoke and safety concerns. Although the researchers could not yet offer an explanation behind the discrepancy, they said that gaining further insight into the matter would be critical. Senior author Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor at Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability, noted the rapid population growth in WUI areas, where plants are 'most sensitive to climate-induced intensification of wildfire risk.' As such, he stressed that understanding why prescribed burns are less effective in these areas 'is a key priority for effectively managing that intensifying risk.'
The Herald Scotland
03-06-2025
- The Herald Scotland
23 magic moments everyone needs to experience on a Scottish cruise
If you dream of cruising the west coast of Scotland, here are my top tips and 23 moments you need to experience. Scotland's bottle-nosed dolphins are the biggest in the world (Image: free)1) Dolphin delights: I didn't realise that Scotland's bottle-nosed dolphins are the biggest in the world - growing to 4 metres, which is the same length as a small car. Watching a pod of three as they plough away just feet in front of the boat, diving and jumping for what looks like joy, is priceless. Fun fact: the reason they are so large is due to our cold waters. 2) You've not slept well until you are lulled to sleep by gentle waves in the sheltered anchorage of Loch na Droma Buidhe (cheekily known as Loch Drambuie) after a post-dinner snack of hearty Isle of Mull cheddar cheese. Canna pale ale goes down a treat (Image: free) 3) Enjoy a pint of Canna pale ale while looking over the bay at the 'garden of the Hebrides'. Café Canna specialises in dishes sourced almost entirely from the island, such as Foraged Kelp Salad or Full Crust Canna Beef. 4) It's fun to say you are going on a cruise and confound those who think you'll be on a mega-floating hotel in the Caribbean. The Elizabeth G takes just 8 guests and four crew, so this is a much more up-close and personal experience. The chef specialises in the finest Scottish produce (Image: free) 5) The food is fantastic – perfectly cooked fresh scallops and melt-in-the-mouth cod. The fact that chef Sally can produce such wonders in a tiny galley kitchen when the boat is bouncing along is all the more remarkable. 6) The cabins are cosy. They all come ensuite and peeking out the porthole as dawn breaks never gets old. An inflatable tender ferries folk to the islands (Image: free)7) Each island we stop at is an adventure in itself. Clambering down into the inflatable rib that transports us is an art in itself and a lot of fun. You'll soon develop a healthy sense of how to keep your bum dry. 8) Sea sickness. It's a bit like being drunk but less expensive. The best cure is to go on deck and look at the horizon - the wind will soon bring you round. The sun sets over Rum (Image: Garry Scott) 9) The Small Isles are all very different. Rum glowers darkly, Canna is a contrast of cliffs and pastoral peace, Muck is surprisingly agricultural, and Eigg stuns with An Sgurr, an imposing rock pinnacle. It looks impossible, but the averagely-fit person can get up and down in around three hours - and the views are sensational. 10) Marvel at the life story of Manx shearwaters. There are 60,000 of the black and white beauties on Rum, which migrate to the coast of South America in July, where they spend the winter, returning to Scotland in early spring. A distance of 6000 miles. Whether it is breakfast or dessert, the food is superb (Image: free) 11) Breakfast. Each day should start like this - with cereal, fruit, and cooked delights, such as eggs Benedict, or pancakes and bacon. 12) Listen and learn. Our wildlife guide Lynsey really opens up Scotland's flora and fauna for ordinary people. She has the knack of imparting her knowledge without making the amateur feel stupid. Golden eagles are spectacular (Image: Mark Hamblin) 13) Watch a pair of golden eagles soar above the cliffs of Canna. The birds were in no rush, and we watched them wheel around for 30 minutes as they showed off to each other. The kittiwakes below were less impressed. 14) Some birds are bad. Well, not bad exactly, but the great skua has many detractors. Known as the pirate of the seas, it mainly feeds off fish it steals from other birds - robbing gulls, terns and gannets. They also attack and kill other seabirds, up to the size of herring gulls. The sad remains of a cleared clachan on Rum (Image: Garry Scott) 15) Spend a quiet moment thinking of those Scots who were cleared off the land to make way for sheep on Rum. There's the sad sight of an abandoned clachan just moments from the pier, on the way to the otter hide, and down by the sea, there are natural rock-hewn pools where the lost children would have played. 16) Spend 15 minutes in the wheelhouse. Ian, our skipper, is a font of knowledge and has been plying the waters of the Hebrides for the last couple of decades. It's fascinating to see how the old-school tech of the wooden wheel and diesel engines marries with today's computer mapping, which shows the depth of the water beneath your hull. An Sgurr on Eigg is not quite as impossible to walk up as it looks (Image: Garry Scott)17) Wildflowers thrive in the most hostile environments, primroses cling to the banks of burns on Rum, and milk wort, with its bonnie blue flowers, grows on the often wind-blasted hillsides of An Sgurr on Eigg. There's a lesson there for us all. 18) Visit an honesty shop. Rum has Drift, selling handmade upcycled crafts. Canna's sell jams, marmalades (there's a very nice whisky one) salts and preserves from the has the The Green Shed selling handmade local crafts Puffins are almost otherworldly (Image: free) 19) Everyone needs to see the comical sight of puffins taking off from the sea at Canna. They are cheery-looking birds that don't take themselves too seriously, which is just as well as they seem prone to crash landings. 20) Listen to a corncrake's cry on Canna. Once widespread across the British Isles - now restricted to Scotland's Northern and Western Isles. It's an extremely secretive bird hiding and nesting in long grassland which overwinters in Africa. The abandoned Kinloch Castle (Image: Garry Scott)21) Marvel at Kinloch Castle – the ghostly abandoned sandstone mansion still has its curtains, furniture and objet d'art. It looks like it did when the inhabitants of the luxurious retreat left it. It is up for sale if you fancy it. 22) Savour a pint of Tennent's in Tobermory's new arts centre along the front. The pizzas look good, too. Seals do look uncannily like dogs (Image: PA) 22) Get up close to seals at Muck. Genuinely curious creatures, they pop up on either side of our tender as he put into the bay. Hebrides Cruises is a family-run small-ship cruise company which specialises in wildlife cruising out of Oban. They have a range of trips and durations, from three days to 10-day trips. For more information check out They were named The Herald's Scottish Family Business of the Year (Micro) in 2023 - so you know you are in good hands. Follow them on Instagram, Facebook and X.
The Herald Scotland
02-06-2025
- The Herald Scotland
The 23 moments everyone needs to experience on a Scottish cruise
If you dream of cruising the west coast of Scotland, here are my top tips and 23 moments you need to experience. Scotland's bottle-nosed dolphins are the biggest in the world (Image: free)1) Dolphin delights: I didn't realise that Scotland's bottle-nosed dolphins are the biggest in the world - growing to 4 metres, which is the same length as a small car. Watching a pod of three as they plough away just feet in front of the boat, diving and jumping for what looks like joy, is priceless. Fun fact: the reason they are so large is due to our cold waters. 2) You've not slept well until you are lulled to sleep by gentle waves in the sheltered anchorage of Loch na Droma Buidhe (cheekily known as Loch Drambuie) after a post-dinner snack of hearty Isle of Mull cheddar cheese. Canna pale ale goes down a treat (Image: free) 3) Enjoy a pint of Canna pale ale while looking over the bay at the 'garden of the Hebrides'. Café Canna specialises in dishes sourced almost entirely from the island, such as Foraged Kelp Salad or Full Crust Canna Beef. 4) It's fun to say you are going on a cruise and confound those who think you'll be on a mega-floating hotel in the Caribbean. The Elizabeth G takes just 8 guests and four crew, so this is a much more up-close and personal experience. The chef specialises in the finest Scottish produce (Image: free) 5) The food is fantastic – perfectly cooked fresh scallops and melt-in-the-mouth cod. The fact that chef Sally can produce such wonders in a tiny galley kitchen when the boat is bouncing along is all the more remarkable. 6) The cabins are cosy. They all come ensuite and peeking out the porthole as dawn breaks never gets old. An inflatable tender ferries folk to the islands (Image: free)7) Each island we stop at is an adventure in itself. Clambering down into the inflatable rib that transports us is an art in itself and a lot of fun. You'll soon develop a healthy sense of how to keep your bum dry. 8) Sea sickness. It's a bit like being drunk but less expensive. The best cure is to go on deck and look at the horizon - the wind will soon bring you round. The sun sets over Rum (Image: Garry Scott) 9) The Small Isles are all very different. Rum glowers darkly, Canna is a contrast of cliffs and pastoral peace, Muck is surprisingly agricultural, and Eigg stuns with An Sgurr, an imposing rock pinnacle. It looks impossible, but the averagely-fit person can get up and down in around three hours - and the views are sensational. 10) Marvel at the life story of Manx shearwaters. There are 60,000 of the black and white beauties on Rum, which migrate to the coast of South America in July, where they spend the winter, returning to Scotland in early spring. A distance of 6000 miles. Whether it is breakfast or dessert, the food is superb (Image: free) 11) Breakfast. Each day should start like this - with cereal, fruit, and cooked delights, such as eggs Benedict, or pancakes and bacon. 12) Listen and learn. Our wildlife guide Lynsey really opens up Scotland's flora and fauna for ordinary people. She has the knack of imparting her knowledge without making the amateur feel stupid. Golden eagles are spectacular (Image: Mark Hamblin) 13) Watch a pair of golden eagles soar above the cliffs of Canna. The birds were in no rush, and we watched them wheel around for 30 minutes as they showed off to each other. The kittiwakes below were less impressed. 14) Some birds are bad. Well, not bad exactly, but the great skua has many detractors. Known as the pirate of the seas, it mainly feeds off fish it steals from other birds - robbing gulls, terns and gannets. They also attack and kill other seabirds, up to the size of herring gulls. The sad remains of a cleared clachan on Rum (Image: Garry Scott) 15) Spend a quiet moment thinking of those Scots who were cleared off the land to make way for sheep on Rum. There's the sad sight of an abandoned clachan just moments from the pier, on the way to the otter hide, and down by the sea, there are natural rock-hewn pools where the lost children would have played. 16) Spend 15 minutes in the wheelhouse. Ian, our skipper, is a font of knowledge and has been plying the waters of the Hebrides for the last couple of decades. It's fascinating to see how the old-school tech of the wooden wheel and diesel engines marries with today's computer mapping, which shows the depth of the water beneath your hull. An Sgurr on Eigg is not quite as impossible to walk up as it looks (Image: Garry Scott)17) Wildflowers thrive in the most hostile environments, primroses cling to the banks of burns on Rum, and milk wort, with its bonnie blue flowers, grows on the often wind-blasted hillsides of An Sgurr on Eigg. There's a lesson there for us all. 18) Visit an honesty shop. Rum has Drift, selling handmade upcycled crafts. Canna's sell jams, marmalades (there's a very nice whisky one) salts and preserves from the has the The Green Shed selling handmade local crafts Puffins are almost otherworldly (Image: free) 19) Everyone needs to see the comical sight of puffins taking off from the sea at Canna. They are cheery-looking birds that don't take themselves too seriously, which is just as well as they seem prone to crash landings. 20) Listen to a corncrake's cry on Canna. Once widespread across the British Isles - now restricted to Scotland's Northern and Western Isles. It's an extremely secretive bird hiding and nesting in long grassland which overwinters in Africa. The abandoned Kinloch Castle (Image: Garry Scott)21) Marvel at Kinloch Castle – the ghostly abandoned sandstone mansion still has its curtains, furniture and objet d'art. It looks like it did when the inhabitants of the luxurious retreat left it. It is up for sale if you fancy it. 22) Savour a pint of Tennent's in Tobermory's new arts centre along the front. The pizzas look good, too. Seals do look uncannily like dogs (Image: PA) 22) Get up close to seals at Muck. Genuinely curious creatures, they pop up on either side of our tender as he put into the bay. Hebrides Cruises is a family-run small-ship cruise company which specialises in wildlife cruising out of Oban. They have a range of trips and durations, from three days to 10-day trips. Form more information check out They were named The Herald's Scottish Family Business of the Year (Micro) in 2023 - so you know you are in good hands.
