Wildfires don't just pollute the air, rain may turn its smoke into fertilizer

Wildfire smoke is usually discussed as an airborne pollutant and a threat to human health. But when smoke and rain coincide, nutrients released by burned landscapes rain back down. A new study finds that smoke-rain events can deliver large bursts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium—three nutrients essential to life—across ecosystems in the United States. As wildfires become more frequent, these nutrient pulses could become an increasingly important and largely overlooked ecological consequence of fire.