Recent climate change: Long-term trends in meteorological forest fire danger in the Alps

2012 ◽  
Vol 162-163 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens Wastl ◽  
Christian Schunk ◽  
Michael Leuchner ◽  
Gianni B. Pezzatti ◽  
Annette Menzel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Recent Climate Change ◽  
Recent Climate ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
The Alps ◽  
Forest Fire Danger

scholarly journals Long-term temporal changes in the occurrence of a high forest fire danger in Finland

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2591-2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. Mäkelä ◽  
M. Laapas ◽  
A. Venäläinen
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Forest Fire Danger

Abstract. Climate variation and change influence several ecosystem components including forest fires. To examine long-term temporal variations of forest fire danger, a fire danger day (FDD) model was developed. Using mean temperature and total precipitation of the Finnish wildfire season (June–August), the model describes the climatological preconditions of fire occurrence and gives the number of fire danger days during the same time period. The performance of the model varied between different regions in Finland being best in south and west. In the study period 1908–2011, the year-to-year variation of FDD was large and no significant increasing or decreasing tendencies could be found. Negative slopes of linear regression lines for FDD could be explained by the simultaneous, mostly not significant increases in precipitation. Years with the largest wildfires did not stand out from the FDD time series. This indicates that intra-seasonal variations of FDD enable occurrence of large-scale fires, despite the whole season's fire danger is on an average level. Based on available monthly climate data, it is possible to estimate the general fire conditions of a summer. However, more detailed input data about weather conditions, land use, prevailing forestry conventions and socio-economical factors would be needed to gain more specific information about a season's fire risk.

Changes in forest fire danger for south-western China in the 21st century

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-rui Tian ◽  
Feng-jun Zhao ◽  
Li-fu Shu ◽  
Ming-yu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Western China ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Forest Fire Danger ◽  
Extreme Fire

This paper predicts future changes in fire danger and the fire season in the current century for south-western China under two different climate change scenarios. The fire weather index (FWI) system calculated from daily outputs of a regional climate model with a horizontal resolution of 50×50km was used to assess fire danger. Temperature and precipitation demonstrated a gradually increasing trend for the future. Forest fire statistics for 1987–2011 revealed that the FWI, initial spread index and seasonal severity rating were significantly related to the number of forest fires between 100 and 1000ha in size. Over three future periods, the FWI component indices will increase greatly. The mean FWI value will increase by 0.83–1.85, 1.83–2.91 and 3.33–3.97 in the periods 2011–2040, 2041–2070 and 2071–2100. The regions with predicted FWI increases are mainly in central and south-eastern China. The fire season (including days with high, very high and extreme fire danger ratings) will be prolonged by 9–13, 18–21 and 28–31 days over these periods. This fire season extension will mainly be due to days with an extreme fire danger rating. Considering predicted future changes in the forest fire danger rating and the fire season, it is suggested that climate change adaptation measures be implemented.

scholarly journals Long-term ecological changes in Mediterranean mountain lakes linked to recent climate change and Saharan dust deposition revealed by diatom analyses

2020 ◽  
Vol 727 ◽  
pp. 138519
Author(s):  
Carmen Pérez-Martínez ◽  
Kathleen M. Rühland ◽  
John P. Smol ◽  
Vivienne J. Jones ◽  
José M. Conde-Porcuna
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mountain Lakes ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Recent Climate Change ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Recent Climate

Future impacts of climate change on forest fire danger in northeastern China

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-rui Tian ◽  
Li-fu Shu ◽  
Feng-jun Zhao ◽  
Ming-yu Wang ◽  
Douglas J. McRae
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Northeastern China ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Forest Fire Danger ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Large-scale weather types, forest fire danger, and wildfire occurrence in the Alps

2013 ◽  
Vol 168 ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens Wastl ◽  
Christian Schunk ◽  
Marvin Lüpke ◽  
Giampaolo Cocca ◽  
Marco Conedera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Weather Types ◽  
Wildfire Occurrence ◽  
The Alps ◽  
Forest Fire Danger

scholarly journals Insects and recent climate change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Halsch ◽  
Arthur M. Shapiro ◽  
James A. Fordyce ◽  
Chris C. Nice ◽  
James H. Thorne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Natural World ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Recent Climate Change ◽  
Recent Climate

AbstractInsects have diversified through 400 million years of Earth’s changeable climate, yet recent and ongoing shifts in patterns of temperature and precipitation pose novel challenges as they combine with decades of other anthropogenic stressors including the conversion and degradation of land. Here we consider how insects are responding to recent climate change, while summarizing the literature on long-term monitoring of insect populations in the context of climatic fluctuations. Results to date suggest that climate change impacts on insects have the potential to be considerable, even when compared to changes in land use. The importance of climate is illustrated with a case study from the butterflies of Northern California, where we find that population declines have been severe in high-elevation areas removed from the most immediate effects of habitat loss. These results shed light on the complexity of montane-adapted insects responding to changing abiotic conditions and raise questions about the utility of temperate mountains as refugia during the Anthropocene. We consider methodological issues that would improve syntheses of results across long-term insect datasets and highlight directions for future empirical work.Significance statementAnthropogenic climate change poses multiple threats to society and biodiversity, and challenges our understanding of the resilience of the natural world. We discuss recent ideas and evidence on this issue and conclude that the impacts of climate change on insects in particular have the potential to be more severe than might have been expected a decade ago. Finally, we suggest practical measures that include the protection of diverse portfolios of species, not just those inhabiting what are currently the most pristine areas.

scholarly journals Insects and recent climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. e2002543117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Halsch ◽  
Arthur M. Shapiro ◽  
James A. Fordyce ◽  
Chris C. Nice ◽  
James H. Thorne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Recent Climate Change ◽  
Recent Climate

Insects have diversified through more than 450 million y of Earth’s changeable climate, yet rapidly shifting patterns of temperature and precipitation now pose novel challenges as they combine with decades of other anthropogenic stressors including the conversion and degradation of land. Here, we consider how insects are responding to recent climate change while summarizing the literature on long-term monitoring of insect populations in the context of climatic fluctuations. Results to date suggest that climate change impacts on insects have the potential to be considerable, even when compared with changes in land use. The importance of climate is illustrated with a case study from the butterflies of Northern California, where we find that population declines have been severe in high-elevation areas removed from the most immediate effects of habitat loss. These results shed light on the complexity of montane-adapted insects responding to changing abiotic conditions. We also consider methodological issues that would improve syntheses of results across long-term insect datasets and highlight directions for future empirical work.

scholarly journals Projection of Forest Fire Danger due to Climate Change in the French Mediterranean Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vassiliki Varela ◽  
Diamando Vlachogiannis ◽  
Athanasios Sfetsos ◽  
Stelios Karozis ◽  
Nadia Politi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Future Time Period ◽  
Forest Fire Danger ◽  
Decision Support Process

Fire occurrence and behaviour in Mediterranean-type ecosystems strongly depend on the air temperature and wind conditions, the amount of fuel load and the drought conditions that drastically increase flammability, particularly during the summer period. In order to study the fire danger due to climate change for these ecosystems, the meteorologically based Fire Weather Index (FWI) can be used. The Fire Weather Index (FWI) system, which is part of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS), has been validated and recognized worldwide as one of the most trusted and important indicators for meteorological fire danger mapping. A number of FWI system components (Fire Weather Index, Drought Code, Initial Spread Index and Fire Severity Rating) were estimated and analysed in the current study for the Mediterranean area of France. Daily raster-based data-sets for the fire seasons (1st May–31st October) of a historic and a future time period were created for the study area based on representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, outputs of CNRM-SMHI and MPI-SMHI climate models. GIS spatial analyses were applied on the series of the derived daily raster maps in order to provide a number of output maps for the study area. The results portray various levels of changes in fire danger, in the near future, according to the examined indices. Number of days with high and very high FWI values were found to be doubled compared to the historical period, in particular in areas of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region and Corsica. The areas with high Initial Spread Index and Seasonal Spread Index values increased as well, forming compact zones of high fire danger in the southern part of the study area, while the Drought Code index did not show remarkable changes. The current study on the evolution of spatial and temporal distribution of forest fire danger due to climate change can provide important knowledge to the decision support process for prevention and management policies of forest fires both at a national and EU level.

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