*[Enwl-eng] Living Smoke

[ENWL]

Living Smoke  
                             
                                News of the world environment 
                             
                                 NEWSLETTER | JULY 28, 2023 
                             
                                  
                                 
                                 
                                  
                                 
                                 
                                  
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                             
                       
                 
           
                                Living Smoke
                                Texas high school student Sara Mims looked through her microscope at particles she had trapped from the air. She was trying to capture dust and fungal spores from a Saharan wind event across the globe. What she saw changed the trajectory of her high school science project. “I didn’t know what I was looking at. I was a high school student, not a microbiologist,” says Mims.

                                It was only after checking satellite images and seeing large smoke plumes arriving from fires across the Gulf of Mexico that she realized she was seeing charred material along with fungal spores. She found that she could trap and culture more fungal spores in smoky rather than clear air. This and other clever experiments led Mims and her research assistant — her dad — to propose that fire-generated air currents carry living microbes.

                                Surprisingly, Mims’s findings lay dormant for over a decade after she published them back in 2004. Nevertheless, her experiments are the first example of a growing field of research called pyroaerobiology, which lies at the intersection of fire ecology, atmospheric science, and microbiology. It’s the study of smoke-borne bacteria, fungi, and other microbes: who they are, where they go, and what they do when they get there. Pyroaerobiology stems from the observation that wildfire smoke is — in a sense — alive, which has implications for human health and the environment. And it’s growing even more critical with the increasing frequency, size, and intensity of wildfires.
                                 

                                Journalist and microbiologist Anna Marija Helt writes about the ecological footprint of wildfire smoke in this online exclusive.
                                 
                                 
                             
                                READ MORE
                                  
                             
                                Photo by Brady Smith / Coconino National Forest
                                 
                             
                                 
                             
                                SUGGESTED READING
                                  
                             
                                Destination Wedding
                                Who treks through the Guatemalan jungle in July? For a wedding, no less? Perhaps people who cannot be themselves in their own homelands? Warning: Reading will require surrendering to discomfort. (Outside)  
                             
                                Return to Life
                                Until recently, animals had been the main subjects of de-extinction research. Now botanists are proposing reviving long-lost plant species by using seeds from dried specimens in collections. (YaleEnvironment360)  
                             
                                Much to Remember
                                “Alaska news is full of climate elegies.” Here is one more that speaks of disappearance — of snow crabs, the economic mainstay of St. Paul’s Island, and of a people and the memories they carry. (Grist/FERN)  
                             
                                A Place of Enchantment
                                Can elves exist in an abandoned gas station site plagued with ‘forever chemicals’? Perhaps. After all, in the realm of imagination, anything is possible. (Orion)  
                             
                                 
                             
                                Not a subscriber yet?

                                You can get 4 issues of our award-winning print magazine delivered for $20 ($25 for international addresses) by clicking this secure link.  
                             
                                 
                             
                                YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE!
                                Earth Island Journal is a nonprofit publication. Our mission is to inform and inspire action. Which is why we rely on readers like you for support. If you believe in the work we do, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our Green Journalism Fund.
                                DONATE TODAY! 
                                 
                             
                                 
                             
                                 
                             
                                Send this to a friend: 
                             
                                  Share  
                                 
                                 
                                  Tweet  
                                 
                                 
                                  Forward  
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                             

                                Did a thoughtful friend forward you our newsletter? Keep up with the latest from Earth Island Journal!
                                SIGN UP TODAY
                                  
                                 
                             
                       
                 
           
                                  Like the Journal  
                                 
                                 
                                  Tweet our Stories  
                                 
                                 
                                  Follow us on Instagram  
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                                 
                             
                                You are receiving this email newsletter because you signed up on our website.
                                If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up to the email newsletter here.

                                Support our work by subscribing to our quarterly print magazine.  
                             
                                 
                             
                                Copyright © 2023 Earth Island Journal, All rights reserved.
                                You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

                                Our mailing address is:

                                Earth Island Journal
                                2150 Allston Way Ste 460
                                Berkeley, CA 94704-1375

                                Add us to your address book


                                  
                             
                       





                  From: Earth Island Journal 
                  Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2023 3:44 AM
                  Subject: Living Smoke

                 
           
     

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.enwl.net.ru/pipermail/enwl-eng/attachments/20230729/a1c6f380/attachment-0001.html>