Articles | Volume 25, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-4135-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-4135-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
24 Oct 2025
Research article |
| 24 Oct 2025
| 24 Oct 2025
Temporal persistence of postfire flood hazards under present and future climate conditions in southern Arizona, USA
Tao Liu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
Luke A. McGuire
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0011, USA
Ann M. Youberg
Arizona Geological Survey, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0011, USA
Charles J. Abolt
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
Adam L. Atchley
Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
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Short summary
Wildfires increase flood risk by making it harder for soil to absorb water. We studied how this risk changes over time as the landscape recovers and how it will be affected by more intense rainfall due to climate change. Using a computer model of a burned watershed in Arizona, we found that while the soil's ability to soak up water recovers over a few years, future rainfall is predicted to be so intense that the period of high flood danger will last longer, making severe floods much more common.
Wildfires increase flood risk by making it harder for soil to absorb water. We studied how this...
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