@article{a68e95d1f38140c98800a1fa30783b8d,
title = "Climate, wildfire, and erosion ensemble foretells more sediment in western USA watersheds",
abstract = "The area burned annually by wildfires is expected to increase worldwide due to climate change. Burned areas increase soil erosion rates within watersheds, which can increase sedimentation in downstream rivers and reservoirs. However, which watersheds will be impacted by future wildfires is largely unknown. Using an ensemble of climate, fire, and erosion models, we show that postfire sedimentation is projected to increase for nearly nine tenths of watersheds by >10% and for more than one third of watersheds by >100% by the 2041 to 2050 decade in the western USA. The projected increases are statistically significant for more than eight tenths of the watersheds. In the western USA, many human communities rely on water from rivers and reservoirs that originates in watersheds where sedimentation is projected to increase. Increased sedimentation could negatively impact water supply and quality for some communities, in addition to affecting stream channel stability and aquatic ecosystems.",
keywords = "climate change, fire, forecast, sediment yield, soil erosion, watershed",
author = "Sankey, {Joel B.} and Jason Kreitler and Hawbaker, {Todd J.} and McVay, {Jason L.} and Miller, {Mary Ellen} and Mueller, {Erich R.} and Vaillant, {Nicole M.} and Lowe, {Scott E.} and Sankey, {Temuulen T.}",
note = "Funding Information: The project described in this publication was supported by a grant from the Department of the Interior Northwest Climate Science Center (NW CSC), the U.S. Geological Survey{\textquoteright}s Ecosystems Mission Area, the U.S. Geological Survey{\textquoteright}s Land Change Science Program, and the U.S. Geological Survey{\textquoteright}s National Assessment of Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes. This manuscript is submitted for publication with the understanding that the United States Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. government. At the time of manuscript publication, the data for this study will be published and made freely available online by the USGS (https://doi.org/ 10.5066/F7BV7DS8). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.",
year = "2017",
month = sep,
day = "16",
doi = "10.1002/2017GL073979",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "44",
pages = "8884--8892",
journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",
issn = "0094-8276",
publisher = "American Geophysical Union",
number = "17",
}