The Earth's climate is becoming increasingly flammable, according to a new study. David Bowman of the University of Tasmania (Australia), together with scientists from the University of Idah and South Dakota State University (USA), compiled a global satellite database of the intensity of 23 million wildfires from 2002 to 2013.
Of the 23 million fires, researchers focused on 478 of the most extreme events. “Extreme fires are a global natural phenomenon, most often found in wooded areas where there are pronounced dry seasons,” says Professor Bowman. "The study found that extremely severe fires occur during abnormal weather events - droughts, winds, - or in desert areas after heavy rains."
“Out of the strongest 478 fires, we selected 144 fires that had an economic and social impact on the area. These heat anomalies were concentrated in regions where people built on flammable wooded landscapes, such as southern Australia and western North America."
Using climate change models, scientists have found that the east coast of Australia, including Brisbane, and the entire Mediterranean region - Portugal, Spain, France, Greece and Turkey - are expected to have the most extreme fires in the future. “Forecasts assume an increase in the number of days favorable for the development of extreme fires by 20-50% in fire-prone landscapes. The most dramatic increases are observed in the subtropics of the Southern Hemisphere and in the European Mediterranean,”says Professor Bowman.
Crystal Caulden of the University of Idach says the proportion of catastrophic fires in the US is higher than in any other country studied in the study. Wildfires burned 4 million hectares of forests here in 2015, and their elimination cost $ 2 billion. Why are there so many fires in the US? Due to a combination of key factors - the low density of houses among dense forests, favorable climatic conditions and the unpreparedness of the population for fires.
