scholarly journals Wildfire Trend Analysis over the Contiguous United States Using Remote Sensing Observations

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2565
Author(s):  
John Salguero ◽  
Jingjing Li ◽  
Alireza Farahmand ◽  
John T. Reager
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
The United States ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Western Us ◽  
The Us ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Wildfire Regimes ◽  
Trend Direction

Understanding the evolution of wildfire regimes throughout the United States (US) is crucial in the preparation, mitigation, and planning for national wildfires. Recent wildfire trajectories demonstrating an increase in both frequency and size across the US have made documenting the changes in wildfire regimes a topic of growing importance. While previous studies have examined wildfire regimes using ecoregions, this study analyzes wildfire regimes through the Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC) regions across the Contiguous US over 34 years, 1984–2017. GACCs are geopolitical boundaries designed by wildfire agencies to promote an efficient way to distribute resources during emergencies such as wildfires. Wildfire observations originate from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) database which records large fire events that are 1000(500) acres or greater in the Western (Eastern) US. Using GACCs and MTBS data, this study examines wildfire regimes across the Contiguous US through the following three parameters: total burned area, frequency, and average burned area. This study characterizes the trend direction of the wildfire parameters and which are statistically significant. Results demonstrate that most GACC regions display statistically significant trends, including wildfire regimes that are beyond the Western US (e.g., Southern GACC). The Northwest and Southwest GACCs demonstrate statistically significant positive trends in every parameter observed. The California and Great Basin GACCs demonstrate statistically significant positive trends in the average burned area. The Eastern GACC is the only region to not display any significant trends. Determining significant wildfire regimes and their trend direction can help wildfire agencies to minimize the negative impacts on the environment, society, and economy.

scholarly journals United States and the transpacific partnership agreement: an analysis of recent dynamics and possible implications for Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-41
Author(s):  
Bruna Ellen Reis Becati ◽  
Sheldon William Silva ◽  
Pedro Dos Santos Portugal Junior ◽  
Lucas Rosa Paiva ◽  
Gustavo Flausino de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Legal Documents ◽  
The Us ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Partnership Agreement ◽  
Character Work

The paper aims to demonstrate the possible impacts after the announcement of the exit of the United States of America from the Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), mainly for Brazil. In view of the above, we work with the hypothesis that the consolidation of TPP can bring great negative impacts to Brazil, since it is out of the agreement and also of most megarregional initiatives. To achieve this, the character work exploratory, uses bibliographical and documentary research from records available in newspapers, articles, magazines, books, films and legal documents. The study shows that the exit of the US from the TPP can positively affect the Brazilian economy, considering mainly the agribusiness sector. Therefore, it is necessary that the country adopts a more proactive international policy that allows to leave the supporting role in the great global economic negotiations.

scholarly journals Competition among China and ASEAN-5 in the US Market: A New Extension to Shift-Share Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 129-137
Author(s):  
He Shuquan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Export Growth ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Us ◽  
Static Approach ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Export Destination

The United States has a robust trade and investment relationship with China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN is collectively the fourth-largest trading partner, and China is one of the largest trade partners of the United States, the largest export destination for China. Thus, China and ASEAN countries are competing in the US market intensively. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the net gains or losses for the ASEAN-5 Members and China during 1993 and 2007 in the US market. There are two main contributions of this paper: one is to dynamically estimate the net shifts of the economies as compared to the traditional comparative static approach; the other is to extend the shift‐share analysis to attribute the net gains or losses to competing exporters. This study adopts the widely used shift-share analysis technique to exam the net gains or losses for the ASEAN-5 and China during 1993-2007 in the Unites Sates market. The paper provides a new extension to the shift‐share analysis to attribute the net shift to competing economies with a dynamic approach. The paper applies the methodology to the competition among China and ASEAN-5 in the US import market with the data drawn from World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS), a data consultation and extraction software developed by the World Bank. The discussion focuses on three periods: 1993-1997, 1998-2002 and 2003-2007. In general, China performs the best among the competing economies. Among the ASEAN-5 Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand perform better than the other two members. During the first period, all economies have positive export growth as the actual export growth shows. However, in terms of net shift, only China and the Philippines are the winners with positive value of net shifts. During the second period, China stands out while the ASEAN economies show negative net shifts values. Similar is the case for the third period. In terms of the industries, China focuses on different industries during the thee periods, and the ASEAN economies depend heavily on a few industries. China’s gains in these industries are much bigger than the ASEAN economies’ gains in value. The ASEAN economies gain in small numbers of industries with small values. When attributed the gains or losses to competing economies, China only loses to the Philippines during 1993-1997, and gains from all competing economies during all periods. Though net losers, the ASEAN-5 also gain from other competing economies. For example, Indonesia gains from Singapore and Thailand during 1993-1997, from the Philippines and Singapore during 1998-2002, from Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore during 2003-2007. The trade war between the United States and China provides opportunity for the ASEAN countries in the Unites Sates market, however, there are negative impacts on the ASEAN countries as well. The ASEAN countries are more vulnerable. Keywords: shift-share analysis, export competitiveness, Asia, ASEAN, China.

scholarly journals Utilizing Multi-Sensor Fire Detections to Map Fires in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol XL-1 ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Howard ◽  
J. J. Picotte ◽  
M. J. Coan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Burn Severity ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Cooperative Effort ◽  
The Us ◽  
Occurrence Records

In 2006, the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) project began a cooperative effort between the US Forest Service (USFS) and the U.S.Geological Survey (USGS) to map and assess burn severity all large fires that have occurred in the United States since 1984. Using Landsat imagery, MTBS is mandated to map wildfire and prescribed fire that meet specific size criteria: greater than 1000 acres in the west and 500 acres in the east, regardless of ownership. Relying mostly on federal and state fire occurrence records, over 15,300 individual fires have been mapped. While mapping recorded fires, an additional 2,700 "unknown" or undocumented fires were discovered and assessed. It has become apparent that there are perhaps thousands of undocumented fires in the US that are yet to be mapped. Fire occurrence records alone are inadequate if MTBS is to provide a comprehensive accounting of fire across the US. Additionally, the sheer number of fires to assess has overwhelmed current manual procedures. To address these problems, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Applied Sciences Program is helping to fund the efforts of the USGS and its MTBS partners (USFS, National Park Service) to develop, and implement a system to automatically identify fires using satellite data. In near real time, USGS will combine active fire satellite detections from MODIS, AVHRR and GOES satellites with Landsat acquisitions. Newly acquired Landsat imagery will be routinely scanned to identify freshly burned area pixels, derive an initial perimeter and tag the burned area with the satellite date and time of detection. Landsat imagery from the early archive will be scanned to identify undocumented fires. Additional automated fire assessment processes will be developed. The USGS will develop these processes using open source software packages in order to provide freely available tools to local land managers providing them with the capability to assess fires at the local level.

scholarly journals How emissions, climate, and land use change will impact mid-century air quality over the United States: a focus on effects at National Parks

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 26495-26543 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Val Martin ◽  
C. L. Heald ◽  
J.-F. Lamarque ◽  
S. Tilmes ◽  
L. K. Emmons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Western Us ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Epa ◽  
Surface O3

Abstract. We use a global coupled chemistry-climate-land model (CESM) to assess the integrated effect of climate, emissions and land use changes on annual surface O3 and PM2.5 on the United States with a focus on National Parks (NPs) and wilderness areas, using the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 projections. We show that, when stringent domestic emission controls are applied, air quality is predicted to improve across the US, except surface O3 over the western and central US under RCP8.5 conditions, where rising background ozone counteracts domestic emissions reductions. Under the RCP4.5, surface O3 is substantially reduced (about 5 ppb), with daily maximum 8 h averages below the primary US EPA NAAQS of 75 ppb (and even 65 ppb) in all the NPs. PM2.5 is significantly reduced in both scenarios (4 μg m−3; ~50%), with levels below the annual US EPA NAAQS of 12 μg m−3 across all the NPs; visibility is also improved (10–15 deciviews; >75 km in visibility range), although some parks over the western US (40–74% of total sites in the US) may not reach the 2050 target to restore visibility to natural conditions by 2064. We estimate that climate-driven increases in fire activity may dominate summertime PM2.5 over the western US, potentially offsetting the large PM2.5 reductions from domestic emission controls, and keeping visibility at present-day levels in many parks. Our study suggests that air quality in 2050 will be primarily controlled by anthropogenic emission patterns. However, climate and land use changes alone may lead to a substantial increase in surface O3 (2–3 ppb) with important consequences for O3 air quality and ecosystem degradation at the US NPs. Our study illustrates the need to consider the effects of changes in climate, vegetation, and fires in future air quality management and planning and emission policy making.

scholarly journals Assessment of the effect of air pollution controls on trends in shortwave radiation over the United States from 1995 through 2010 from multiple observation networks

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 23719-23755 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-M. Gan ◽  
J. Pleim ◽  
R. Mathur ◽  
C. Hogrefe ◽  
C. N. Long ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Surface Concentration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Western Us ◽  
The Us ◽  
Increasing Trends

Abstract. Long term datasets of all-sky and clear-sky downwelling shortwave (SW) radiation, cloud cover fraction and aerosol optical depth (AOD) are analyzed together with surface concentration from several networks (e.g. SURFRAD, CASTNET, IMPROVE and ARM) in the United States (US). Seven states with varying climatology are selected to better understand the effects of aerosols and clouds on SW radiation. This analysis aims to assess the effects of reductions in anthropogenic aerosol burden resulting from substantial reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the past 16 yr across the US on trends in SW radiation. The SO2 and NOx emission data show decreasing trends from 1995 to 2010 which indirectly validates the effects of the Clean Air Act (CAA) in the US. Meanwhile, the total column AOD and surface total PM2.5 observations also show decreasing trends in the eastern US but slightly increasing trends in the western US. Moreover, measured surface concentrations of several other pollutants (i.e. SO2, SO4 and NOx) have the same behavior as the AOD and total PM2.5. First, all-sky downwelling SW radiation is assessed together with the cloud cover. Results of this analysis show strong increasing trends in all-sky downwelling SW radiation with decreasing trends in cloud cover. However, since observations of both all-sky direct and diffuse SW radiation are increasing, there may be other factors contributing to the radiation trends in addition to the decreasing trends in overall cloud cover. To investigate the role of direct radiative effects of aerosols, clear-sky downwelling radiation is analyzed so that cloud effects are eliminated. However, similar increasing trends in clear-sky direct and diffuse SW radiation are observed. While significantly decreasing trends in AOD and surface concentration along with increasing SW radiation (both all-sky and clear-sky) in the eastern US during 1995–2010 imply the occurrence of direct aerosol mediated "brightening", the increasing trends of both all-sky and clear sky diffuse SW radiation contradicts this conclusion since diffuse radiation would be expected to decrease as aerosols direct effects decrease. After investigating several confounding factors, the increasing trend in diffuse SW may be due to more high-level cirrus from increasing air traffic over the US. In contrast to the eastern US, radiation observations in the western US do not show any indication of "brightening" which is consistent with the observations (e.g. AOD, PM2.5 and surface concentration) that show the aerosol loading increasing slightly. This outcome is not unexpected because the CAA controls were mainly aimed at reducing air pollutants emission in the eastern US and air pollutant level in the western US are much lower.

scholarly journals How emissions, climate, and land use change will impact mid-century air quality over the United States: a focus on effects at national parks

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 2805-2823 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Val Martin ◽  
C. L. Heald ◽  
J.-F. Lamarque ◽  
S. Tilmes ◽  
L. K. Emmons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Western Us ◽  
The Us ◽  
Emission Controls ◽  
Surface O3

Abstract. We use a global coupled chemistry–climate–land model (CESM) to assess the integrated effect of climate, emissions and land use changes on annual surface O3 and PM2.5 in the United States with a focus on national parks (NPs) and wilderness areas, using the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 projections. We show that, when stringent domestic emission controls are applied, air quality is predicted to improve across the US, except surface O3 over the western and central US under RCP8.5 conditions, where rising background ozone counteracts domestic emission reductions. Under the RCP4.5 scenario, surface O3 is substantially reduced (about 5 ppb), with daily maximum 8 h averages below the primary US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 75 ppb (and even 65 ppb) in all the NPs. PM2.5 is significantly reduced in both scenarios (4 μg m−3; ~50%), with levels below the annual US EPA NAAQS of 12 μg m−3 across all the NPs; visibility is also improved (10–15 dv; >75 km in visibility range), although some western US parks with Class I status (40–74 % of total sites in the US) are still above the 2050 planned target level to reach the goal of natural visibility conditions by 2064. We estimate that climate-driven increases in fire activity may dominate summertime PM2.5 over the western US, potentially offsetting the large PM2.5 reductions from domestic emission controls, and keeping visibility at present-day levels in many parks. Our study indicates that anthropogenic emission patterns will be important for air quality in 2050. However, climate and land use changes alone may lead to a substantial increase in surface O3 (2–3 ppb) with important consequences for O3 air quality and ecosystem degradation at the US NPs. Our study illustrates the need to consider the effects of changes in climate, vegetation, and fires in future air quality management and planning and emission policy making.

scholarly journals Assessment of the effect of air pollution controls on trends in shortwave radiation over the United States from 1995 through 2010 from multiple observation networks

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1701-1715 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-M. Gan ◽  
J. Pleim ◽  
R. Mathur ◽  
C. Hogrefe ◽  
C. N. Long ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cloud Cover ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Western Us ◽  
The Us ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Increasing Trends

Abstract. Long-term data sets of all-sky and clear-sky downwelling shortwave (SW) radiation, cloud cover fraction, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) were analyzed together with surface concentrations from several networks (e.g., Surface Radiation Budget Network (SURFRAD), Clean Air Status and Trend Network (CASTNET), Interagency Monitoring of Protection Visual Environments (IMPROVE) and Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM)) in the United States (US). Seven states with varying climatology were selected to better understand the effects of aerosols and clouds on SW radiation. This analysis aims to assess the effects of reductions in anthropogenic aerosol burden resulting from substantial reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the past 16 yr across the US, based on trends in SW radiation. The SO2 and NOx emission data show decreasing trends from 1995 to 2010, which indirectly validates the effects of the Clean Air Act (CAA) in the US. Meanwhile, the total column AOD and surface total PM2.5 observations also show decreasing trends in the eastern US but slightly increasing trends in the western US. Moreover, measured surface concentrations of several other pollutants (i.e., SO2, SO4 and NOx) have similar behavior to AOD and total PM2.5. Analysis of the observed data shows strong increasing trends in all-sky downwelling SW radiation with decreasing trends in cloud cover. However, since observations of both all-sky direct and diffuse SW radiation show increasing trends, there may be other factors contributing to the radiation trends in addition to the decreasing trends in overall cloud cover. To investigate the role of direct radiative effects of aerosols, clear-sky downwelling radiation is analyzed so that cloud effects are eliminated. However, similar increasing trends in clear-sky total and diffuse SW radiation are observed. While significantly decreasing trends in AOD and surface PM2.5 concentrations along with increasing SW radiation (both all-sky and clear-sky) in the eastern US during 1995–2010 imply the occurrence of direct aerosol mediated "brightening", the increasing trends of both all-sky and clear-sky diffuse SW radiation contradicts this conclusion since diffuse radiation would be expected to decrease as aerosols direct effects decrease and cloud cover decreases. After investigating several confounding factors, the increasing trend in clear-sky diffuse SW may be due to more high-level cirrus from increasing air traffic over the US. The clear-sky radiation observations in the western US also show indications of "brightening" even though the AOD, PM2.5 and surface concentration do not vary drastically. This outcome was not unexpected because the CAA controls were mainly aimed at reducing air pollutant emissions in the eastern US and air pollutant levels in the western US were much lower at the onset. This suggests other factors affect the "brightening" especially in the western US.

scholarly journals How trade affects the US produce industry: the case of fresh tomatoes

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Sheng Li ◽  
Feng Wu ◽  
Zhengfei Guan ◽  
Tianyuan Luo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fresh Produce ◽  
Market Price ◽  
The United States ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
The Us ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Fresh Tomato ◽  
The Impact

The US produce industry faces intensifying competition from imports, particularly those from Mexico, the largest exporter of produce to the United States. Fresh produce imports from Mexico have grown dramatically in recent years. This study examines the impact of increasing fresh tomato imports from Mexico on market price and revenue of US growers. Results show that tomato prices are highly sensitive to supply, suggesting a saturated market. Imports from Mexico have significant negative impacts on the prices of US domestic tomatoes. A scenario of 50% increase in tomato imports from Mexico could result in a $252 million (27%) revenue loss for American growers, thus posing great challenges to the sustainability of the declining US tomato industry.

The United States and the Iranian Nuclear Programme

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Hurst
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nixon Administration ◽  
Comprehensive Plan ◽  
The Us ◽  
Nuclear Issue ◽  
The Relationship

The United States, Iran and the Bomb provides the first comprehensive analysis of the US-Iranian nuclear relationship from its origins through to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Starting with the Nixon administration in the 1970s, it analyses the policies of successive US administrations toward the Iranian nuclear programme. Emphasizing the centrality of domestic politics to decision-making on both sides, it offers both an explanation of the evolution of the relationship and a critique of successive US administrations' efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, with neither coercive measures nor inducements effectively applied. The book further argues that factional politics inside Iran played a crucial role in Iranian nuclear decision-making and that American policy tended to reinforce the position of Iranian hardliners and undermine that of those who were prepared to compromise on the nuclear issue. In the final chapter it demonstrates how President Obama's alterations to American strategy, accompanied by shifts in Iranian domestic politics, finally brought about the signing of the JCPOA in 2015.

‘To see oursels as ithers see us’: Reflections on Scottish Independence from the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan Hague ◽  
Alan Mackie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Scottish Diaspora

The United States media have given rather little attention to the question of the Scottish referendum despite important economic, political and military links between the US and the UK/Scotland. For some in the US a ‘no’ vote would be greeted with relief given these ties: for others, a ‘yes’ vote would be acclaimed as an underdog escaping England's imperium, a narrative clearly echoing America's own founding story. This article explores commentary in the US press and media as well as reporting evidence from on-going interviews with the Scottish diaspora in the US. It concludes that there is as complex a picture of the 2014 referendum in the United States as there is in Scotland.

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