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Biodiversity conservation can entail socially controversial management interventions such as herbicide applications to eradicate aquatic invasive plants from highly productive native ecosystems. This study used a case example of the successful eradication of Alaska’s first aquatic invasive plant, Elodea spp. from two lakes surrounded by waterfront homes with the objective to measure perceived changes in the use of the lakes by local residents. A household survey was conducted with homeowners before and after the application of herbicides to measure public attitudes and human behavior changes related to the use of herbicide. We found fears and subjective expectations of survey respondents did not match the eventually collected objective scientific data on water quality. Also, we measured a significant negative change in lake-related activities over the duration of the management intervention that is smaller compared to the reduced activity level lake residents anticipated before the application of herbicide. Swimming and the consumption of fish caught in the lakes were the most negatively affected ecosystem services. The study showed the indirect and often hidden effects of management interventions on human risk perceptions that can translate to unintended human behavior changes and a reduction in related ecosystem service use. To account for complex social dimensions of controversial resource management interventions, resource managers require information on broad public value trade-offs and perceived risk beyond that which public meetings can provide. In this context, household surveys before and after resource management interventions can offer insights few other approaches can. The potential for more advanced outreach methods is discussed.

The late-season extreme fire activity in Southcentral Alaska during 2019 was highly unusual and consequential. Firefighting operations had to be extended by a month in 2019 due to the extreme conditions of hot summer temperature and prolonged drought. The ongoing fires created poor air quality in the region containing most of Alaska’s population, leading to substantial impacts to public health. Suppression costs totaled over $70 million for Southcentral Alaska. This study’s main goals are to place the 2019 season into historical context, provide an attribution analysis, and assess future changes in wildfire risk in the region. The primary tools are meteorological observations and climate model simulations from the NCAR CESM Large Ensemble (LENS). The 2019 fire season in Southcentral Alaska included the hottest and driest June–August season over the 1979–2019 period. The LENS simulation analysis suggests that the anthropogenic signal of increased fire risk had not yet emerged in 2019 because of the CESM’s internal variability, but that the anthropogenic signal will emerge by the 2040–2080 period. The effect of warming temperatures dominates the effect of enhanced precipitation in the trend towards increased fire risk.

There is increasing evidence that current mainstream guidance for assessing moisture risk of insulation retrofits in Ireland and the UK is unsuitable for traditional solidwalled buildings. This guidance is still based on simplified hygrothermal risk assessment methods, despite the availability of more advanced numerical software for two decades and a relevant standard in place since 2007, EN 15026. Two-dimensional versions of these software applications can extend simulation beyond one-dimensional assemblies to more complex junctions. This exploratory study makes use of one of these advanced simulation tools, aided by physical measurement, to explore hygrothermal risks of solid wall retrofits at the junction with uninsulated and insulated ground floors. A brick-faced traditional dwelling in Dublin has been selected as a case study, and four scenarios have been simulated: its original condition and three retrofit approaches. Results indicate that (a) the moisture content at the base of the wall increases in all retrofit scenarios examined, and (b) the assemblies with high vapour permeability and no membranes result in the lowest hygrothermal risk. The findings should be supported by further research and could have great relevance to guidance, specification and grant policy for energy retrofits of solid wall properties in Ireland and the UK.