Tom Swetnam
Tree-ring scientist, forest ecologist, forest fires, climate and human interactions. Regents Professor Emeritus Univ AZ; home in New Mexico.
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamNothing to see here; just the division that funds (or not) all of us in the environmental sciences, including atmosphere, ocean, ice, Earth, climate, hydrology, whatever.
- My colleagues Calvin Farris (NPS) and Ellis Margolis (USGS) led a landmark study in paleofire reconstruction. In addition to showing that fire management can restore past fire regimes, the demonstrated methods are a first in dendrochronology. 1/6 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamWell, it's now official (per NOAA): Dec (and Nov-Dec) 2025 were the warmest such periods on record for Western U.S. (and also for most individual Western states). It has been an extraordinarily sustained period of winter warmth, and this eerily balmy winter continues into Jan.
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- The continued destruction of science by the US administration is beyond appalling and disgusting. This includes the withdrawal of the the US from IAI, Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. This is a massive mistake and loss for all.
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamIn December I received a deeply meaningful recognition for my research from AFE, especially to cap off the unhinged year that was 2025. I dedicate this award to all scientists - especially my fellow feds - who have been vilified and whose work has not been valued. @afe-fireecology.bsky.social
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamThreatening to dismantle NCAR, our premier weather and climate research institute (apparently) because Colorado refuses to pardon someone accused of tampering with voting machines is a sad example of our current kakistocracy in action… www.nytimes.com/2025...
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamUnbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamNCAR is quite literally our global mothership. Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources. Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet. Unbelievable.
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamProhibited activities include advising Chinese graduate students. For reference, a recent Georgetown report estimated 16% of STEM graduate students in the US are Chinese nationals. This would take out entire fields at the knees, which is perhaps the point.
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamIncreasing wildfire frequency decreases carbon storage and leads to regeneration failure in Alaskan boreal forests fireecology.springeropen.com/articles/10....
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamPublished today: our new paper showing a 44-year trend of increasing global wildfire disasters (fatalities and economic losses) due to climate change-induced extreme weather. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamNew Science Advances paper on the feedback loop between loss of snow feeding more wildfire, and wildfire resulting in earlier snowmelt. As to latter, in snow obs, under average conditions, snow melts earlier during 1st-yr postfire in 99%(!) of western snow zones. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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- Our op-ed in the Santa Fe New Mexican today highlights the potential losses from closure of the nine US Forest Service Regional Offices, namely local leadership knowledge and capacity, experienced people, and priceless documentary records: www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/my_v...
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- Well, this is a stimulating review! Some nice kudos, and a few critiques that are partly accurate, I’d say. I especially like the comparison with “psychedelic wanderings” of hippies! And I agree, it is a “modest intervention” in scholarly history of the Southwest.
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamOne more thing: The fire severity data used to conduct this study can be downloaded here. This is a gridded dataset of satellite-derived fire severity and pre-fire NDVI for all fires in the western US that burned from 1985 to 2022. 🔥🌍🧪 #OpenScience
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamOn The Climate Brink, I write about the DOE report and our response.
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamTree-ring fire records from 649 pine trees in central and eastern Arizona show that fires occurred more often in the territory of the Western Apache, or Ndee, than in other regions between 1600–1870, suggesting a culturally controlled fire regime. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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- Reposted by Tom SwetnamFine work that both extends our knowledge of the past and has implications for today. Ndee (Western Apache) land management did a remarkable job controlling forest fires, even in drought-heavy eras like ours. It defies belief to think today's fire-torn SW has nothing to learn from those guys.
- Reposted by Tom Swetnam1/New Open Access paper in PNAS with an outstanding team of collaborators: Tree rings reveal persistent Western Apache (Ndee) fire stewardship and niche construction in the American Southwest. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamNew paper out on the dangers of using patterns across spatial climate gradients to predict what will happen with changing climate. That includes species distribution modeling. Space-for-time substitution can be misleading in sign, not just the magnitude of effects. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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- The Turkeyfeather Fire in the Gila Wilderness, NM has burned as a low-severity fire over about 24,000 acres (so far). This is a continuation of a fire regime that existed for millennia before the 20th century. This 🧵reviews the fire history of the Gila, as my colleagues and I have studied it. 1/18
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- Reposted by Tom Swetnam🌳 🔥 🌎 Our new paper: The extreme fire-prone #weather underpinning some of the worst #wildfire episodes this century has become more than twice as likely due to #climate change—a trend now evident across much of the world's tropical and mid-latitude #forests. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Tom SwetnamWhat's up with Justice Jackson? She started making her mark and speaking out early, and some of her dissents are so pointed Kagan and Sotomayor don’t even join them. The far right is out for her, and even Republican justices are getting snarky. So what's up? Here’s my take 🧵
- Nice podcast interview of me on a radio program called “Write on Four Corners” on recently published books about the region. This is a fairly thorough review of my book “The Jemez Mountains.” Hot springs, hippies, forest fires, and a sense of place! (30 minutes). play.prx.org/listen?uf=ht...
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- Nice review in ABQ Journal. www.abqjournal.com/lifestyle/ar...
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