March 19, 2025: Wildfires are becoming more common, and we need to prepare. Plus, a successful astronaut splashdown and iguanas that made an incredible journey. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Support teams work around a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft shortly after it landed in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. NASA/Keegan Barber/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images | | | • Two astronauts who were stranded on the ISS for 286 days returned to Earth yesterday, splashing down at 5:57 P.M. EDT off the coast of Florida. | 5 min read | | | • Fiji's iguanas are most closely related to lizards living in North America's deserts, according to a new genetic analysis. How they traveled the 5,000 miles is remarkable. | 2 min read | | | • RFK, Jr., who was once poisoned by mercury, fought mercury pollution for years. He is now silent as the Trump administration is rolling back mercury regulations, along with at least a dozen other pollution controls announced last week by the EPA. | 2 min read | | | In Oklahoma, more than 200 people have been injured and more than 400 homes across the state have been damaged by wildfires this week, according to the Emergency Management Department. This morning, winds up to 75 mph were blowing wildfire flames, prompting evacuations and red flag warnings over much of the western half of the state. In fact, red flag warnings are impacting up to 26 million people today, ranging from west Texas to Illinois, ABC News reported. Why this is happening: The Oklahoma fires are fueled by low humidity across the region, dry vegetation and hurricane-force winds. It's a portent of what's to come: Much of how a fire season might pan out is related to drought conditions, and nearly all of Oklahoma is experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions. As the climate continues to warm, droughts will become more frequent, widespread and persistent.
What can be done: In the coming years, local communities will have to reduce their fire risk, even down to individual houses. Risk mitigation involves what some experts call "hardening" homes to make them less susceptible to fires and to prevent flames from getting that first toehold in an urban or suburban area. Wildfires can threaten a house in three main ways: it can produce embers, make direct flame contact and emit radiant heat.
One of the first, and often easiest, places to start when hardening a home to wildfire is establishing the home's "defensible space." This reduces or eliminates any combustible material within five feet of the house to reduce the risk from embers, and within 100 feet to protect against active flames and radiant heat. I recommend reading through our set of graphics showing how exterior walls, roofs, windows, vents and gutters can all be fortified against fire. | | |
What the experts say: True wildfire mitigation is best done at the community level. Some jurisdictions have passed wildfire-resistant building codes—but in California, for example, they only apply to homes built after 2008. "It requires change," says Anne Cope, chief engineer at the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. And "change is difficult." But it can be done. | | | • The total number of people treated for opioid use disorder under Medicaid in 2021 was nearly 1.82 million, or 35 percent of all people treated for the disorder in the U.S. But last month, Congress passed a resolution that will most likely mean $880 billion in reduced federal spending in Medicaid over 10 years. According to research, when people gain health care coverage, they are more likely to seek treatment for addiction and get treated with lifesaving drugs, writes Richard G. Frank, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. "Furthermore, people in treatment are less likely to overdose and die than those not in treatment." Reductions to spending will "likely result in more overdoses and more deaths consequent to the disorder," he says. | 4 min read | | | • For 13 years, a city in Canada has blocked off a busy roadway so the endangered Jefferson salamander can safely cross the road. | The Washington Post | • Most AI systems used in hospitals fail to detect worsening health conditions. | Axios | | | You can go down quite a rabbit-hole looking into fire-resistant building material (believe me). A lot of it makes sense—plant-based materials like lumber and cotton can easily burst into flames, while metal and concrete-based materials are more fire-resistant. Cinder blocks, made of and filled with concrete, are commonly used in hurricane-prone regions like Florida. Plus, they are more fire resistant. It's always nice to reduce two hazards with one change. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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