Science - USA (2022-02-18)

science.org SCIENCE

PHOTO: TRISTAN FORTSCH/KATU-TV VIA AP

R

ising nighttime temperatures around the globe

are helping fuel more intense and long-lasting

wildfires, researchers report. Wildfire fighters

have often relied on cooler temperatures and

higher humidity at night to help calm blazes. But

detailed satellite observations of fires stretching

back 2 decades, paired with 4 decades of hour-by-hour

weather data, have revealed a change. In fire-prone

ecosystems around the world, the number of nights

during which atmospheric conditions would encourage

fires to keep burning has increased by 15% since 1979.

That added five more nights per year on average when

blazes are unlikely to be snuffed by cooler, more hu-

mid weather. In some regions, the effect was greater:

In the western United States, the increase was 45%

since 1979—the equivalent of 11 additional fire-friendly

nights. The research team said the changes may be as-

sociated with climate change but did not document a

causal link. But, “The ‘night brakes’ on fires are fail-

ing,” they write in this week’s issue of Nature.

NEWS

IN BRIEF

FDA chief confirmed in close vote

LEADERSHIP | For the first time in more

than 1 year, the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) is set to have a per-

manent head. On 15 February, the Senate

confirmed Robert Califf, a cardiologist with

close ties to the drug industry, as commis-

sioner. The 50-46 vote was unusually close,

with four Democrats and independent

Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) opposing

Califf, whom President Joe Biden nomi-

nated in November 2021. The vote returns

Califf—a longtime clinical research leader

at Duke University who has recently been

senior adviser for Google Health—to a job

he held under former President Barack

Obama in 2016 and early 2017. Dissenting

Democrats protested Califf ’s ties to drug-

makers and FDA’s approval of five new

prescription opioids during that tenure.

Abortion opponents protested Califf ’s role

in FDA’s easing of access to medical abor-

tion pills in 2016. Six Republicans voted in

favor of Califf, assuring his confirmation.

Omicron treatment wins U.S. nod

COVID19 | The U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) last week gave emer-

gency use authorization to a monoclonal

antibody that in test-tube studies neutral-

izes the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant and

Edited by Jeffrey Brainard

ECOLOGY

Dry heat fuels increase

in nighttime wildfires

“

I just wish when people say ‘Follow the science,’

it’s ... followed by ‘and here’s the evidence.’

”

Princeton University science historian Michael Gordin, in The Washington Post, about the

phrase’s use and misuse by policymakers and others in public discussions of COVID-19.

In 2017, a wildfire burned

some 20,000 hectares in Oregon

near the Columbia River Gorge.

700 18 FEBRUARY 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6582