Mojtaba Sadegh

(He/Him/His)

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Andrew Rowley watches a wildfire burning from a distance after evacuating his home in Spokane, Wash., on Aug. 1, 2026. AP Photo/Young Kwak

Why the Spokane wildfires became so catastrophic

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; United Nations University and John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced

Extreme fire conditions converged in suburban neighborhoods built into the forests, shrubland and grasslands and quickly spread.
Des Iraniennes prient pour la pluie au sanctuaire d’Imamzadeh Saleh à Téhéran, le 14 novembre 2025. L’automne a été particulièrement sec dans la capitale iranienne. Stringer/AFP

Comment l’Iran en est arrivé à la faillite hydrique et pourquoi déplacer la capitale ne changera rien

Ali Mirchi, Oklahoma State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine; Kaveh Madani, United Nations University; Yale University, and Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; United Nations University

L’expansion urbaine de l’Iran et le choix d’une agriculture gourmande en eau ont rendu le pays vulnérable à la sécheresse. Certaines mesures pourraient toutefois y remédier.
Iranians pray for rain in Tehran on Nov. 14, 2025. The city is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images

Iran’s president calls for moving its drought‑stricken capital amid a worsening water crisis – how Tehran got into water bankruptcy

Ali Mirchi, Oklahoma State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine; Kaveh Madani, United Nations University; Yale University, and Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; United Nations University

Iran’s sprawling cities and irrigated agriculture, along with tight market controls, have left the country vulnerable to drought. There are steps that would help.
Residents try to put out flames as a wildfire threatens homes in Quito, Ecuador, in September 2024. AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa

Wildfire disasters are increasingly in the news, yet less land is burning globally – here’s why

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced, and Seyd Teymoor Seydi, Boise State University

Even though you may mostly hear about fires in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, it’s Africa that has far and away the most acreage burned and people exposed to fire.
Many of the people caught in the wildfire that swept through Paradise, Calif., in 2018 were older adults. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Wildfire risk is soaring for low‑income, elderly and other vulnerable populations in California, Washington and Oregon

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University and John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced

Alarmingly, about half the people exposed to wildfires in Washington and Oregon were those least able to afford to protect their homes, evacuate safely and recover.
Fires are increasing in high mountain areas that rarely burned in the past. John McColgan, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service

Fire danger in the high mountains is intensifying: That’s bad news for humans, treacherous for the environment

Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University

Fires here can affect meltwater timing and water quality, worsen erosion that triggers mudslides, and much more, as two scientists explain.
Banana plantation workers in Panama find shade under a vehicle during a break. Jan Sochor/Latincontent/Getty Images

Heat waves hit the poor hardest – calculating the rising impact on those least able to adapt to the warming climate

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced, and Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The risk from heat waves is about more than intensity – being able to cool off is essential, and that’s hard to find in many low-income areas of the world.
In some drought-stricken parts of the Southwest, water arrives by truck. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Avoiding water bankruptcy in the drought‑troubled Southwest: What the US and Iran can learn from each other

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; Ali Mirchi, Oklahoma State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine, and Kaveh Madani, Yale University

Cities and farmers in the Southwest are resorting to unsustainable strategies to pull in more water. Iran has tried many of these strategies and shows how they can go wrong.
Heat and dryness are leaving high mountain areas more vulnerable to forest fires. David McNew/Getty Images

Western fires are burning higher in the mountains and at unprecedented rates as the climate warms

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced, and Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, McGill University

As the risk of fires rises in areas once considered too wet to burn, it creates hazards for mountain communities and for downstream water supplies.
Heat and dryness are leaving high mountain areas more vulnerable to forest fires. David McNew/Getty Images

Western fires are burning higher in the mountains at unprecedented rates – it’s a clear sign of climate change

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced, and Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, McGill University

As the risk of fires rises in areas once considered too wet to burn, it creates hazards for mountain communities and for downstream water supplies.
Dry conditions across the West follow a hot, dry year of record-setting wildfires in 2020. Communities were left with scenes like this, from California’s Creek Fire. Amir Aghakouchak/University of California Irvine

Another dangerous fire season is looming in the Western U.S., and the drought‑stricken region is headed for a water crisis

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine, and John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced

Drought conditions are so bad, fish hatcheries are trucking their salmon to the ocean and ranchers are worried about having enough water for their livestock.

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