1
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Picciotto S, Huang S, Lurmann F, Pavlovic N, Ying Chang S, Mukherjee A, Goin DE, Sklar R, Noth E, Morello-Frosch R, Padula AM. Pregnancy exposure to PM 2.5 from wildland fire smoke and preterm birth in California. Environ Int 2024; 186:108583. [PMID: 38521046 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Wildfires in the Western United States are a growing and significant source of air pollution that is eroding decades of progress in air pollution reduction. The effects on preterm birth during critical periods of pregnancy are unknown. METHODS We assessed associations between prenatal exposure to wildland fire smoke and risk of preterm birth (gestational age < 37 weeks). We assigned smoke exposure to geocoded residence at birth for all live singleton births in California conceived 2007-2018, using weekly average concentrations of particulate matter ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5) attributable to wildland fires from United States Environmental Protection Agency's Community Multiscale Air Quality Model. Logistic regression yielded odds ratio (OR) for preterm birth in relation to increases in average exposure across the whole pregnancy, each trimester, and each week of pregnancy. Models adjusted for season, age, education, race/ethnicity, medical insurance, and smoking of the birthing parent. RESULTS For the 5,155,026 births, higher wildland fire PM2.5 exposure averaged across pregnancy, or any trimester, was associated with higher odds of preterm birth. The OR for an increase of 1 µg/m3 of average wildland fire PM2.5 during pregnancy was 1.013 (95 % CI:1.008,1.017). Wildland fire PM2.5 during most weeks of pregnancy was associated with higher odds. Strongest estimates were observed in weeks in the second and third trimesters. A 10 µg/m3 increase in average wildland fire PM2·5 in gestational week 23 was associated with OR = 1.034; 95 % CI: 1.019, 1.049 for preterm birth. CONCLUSIONS Preterm birth is sensitive to wildland fire PM2.5; therefore, we must reduce exposure during pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sally Picciotto
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Dana E Goin
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Rachel Sklar
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Elizabeth Noth
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Amy M Padula
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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2
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Kiely L, Neyestani SE, Binte-Shahid S, York RA, Porter WC, Barsanti KC. California Case Study of Wildfires and Prescribed Burns: PM 2.5 Emissions, Concentrations, and Implications for Human Health. Environ Sci Technol 2024; 58:5210-5219. [PMID: 38483184 PMCID: PMC10976878 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c06421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Wildfires are a significant threat to human health, in part through degraded air quality. Prescribed burning can reduce wildfire severity but can also lead to an increase in air pollution. The complexities of fires and atmospheric processes lead to uncertainties when predicting the air quality impacts of fire and make it difficult to fully assess the costs and benefits of an expansion of prescribed fire. By modeling differences in emissions, surface conditions, and meteorology between wildfire and prescribed burns, we present a novel comparison of the air quality impacts of these fire types under specific scenarios. One wildfire and two prescribed burn scenarios were considered, with one prescribed burn scenario optimized for potential smoke exposure. We found that PM2.5 emissions were reduced by 52%, from 0.27 to 0.14 Tg, when fires burned under prescribed burn conditions, considerably reducing PM2.5 concentrations. Excess short-term mortality from PM2.5 exposure was 40 deaths for fires under wildfire conditions and 39 and 15 deaths for fires under the default and optimized prescribed burn scenarios, respectively. Our findings suggest prescribed burns, particularly when planned during conditions that minimize smoke exposure, could be a net benefit for the impacts of wildfires on air quality and health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Kiely
- Chemical
and Environmental Engineering, University
of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States
- Now
at: Scion, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
| | - Soroush E. Neyestani
- Department
of Environmental Sciences, University of
California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States
| | - Samiha Binte-Shahid
- Chemical
and Environmental Engineering, University
of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States
| | - Robert A. York
- Department
of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - William C. Porter
- Department
of Environmental Sciences, University of
California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States
| | - Kelley C. Barsanti
- Chemical
and Environmental Engineering, University
of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States
- Atmospheric
Chemistry Observations and Modeling, U.S.
National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado 80301, United States
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3
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Luo K, Wang X, de Jong M, Flannigan M. Drought triggers and sustains overnight fires in North America. Nature 2024; 627:321-327. [PMID: 38480963 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07028-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Overnight fires are emerging in North America with previously unknown drivers and implications. This notable phenomenon challenges the traditional understanding of the 'active day, quiet night' model of the diurnal fire cycle1-3 and current fire management practices4,5. Here we demonstrate that drought conditions promote overnight burning, which is a key mechanism fostering large active fires. We examined the hourly diurnal cycle of 23,557 fires and identified 1,095 overnight burning events (OBEs, each defined as a night when a fire burned through the night) in North America during 2017-2020 using geostationary satellite data and terrestrial fire records. A total of 99% of OBEs were associated with large fires (>1,000 ha) and at least one OBE was identified in 20% of these large fires. OBEs were early onset after ignition and OBE frequency was positively correlated with fire size. Although warming is weakening the climatological barrier to night-time fires6, we found that the main driver of recent OBEs in large fires was the accumulated fuel dryness and availability (that is, drought conditions), which tended to lead to consecutive OBEs in a single wildfire for several days and even weeks. Critically, we show that daytime drought indicators can predict whether an OBE will occur the following night, which could facilitate early detection and management of night-time fires. We also observed increases in fire weather conditions conducive to OBEs over recent decades, suggesting an accelerated disruption of the diurnal fire cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaiwei Luo
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
| | - Xianli Wang
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
| | - Mark de Jong
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mike Flannigan
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Natural Resource Science, Faculty of Science, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
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4
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Libonati R. Megafires are here to stay - and blaming only climate change won't help. Nature 2024; 627:10. [PMID: 38443642 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-024-00641-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
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5
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Ouyang YY, Su ZW, Li CH, Zeng AC, Guo FT. Forest fire risk zoning based on fuzzy logic and analytical network process. Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao 2024; 35:354-362. [PMID: 38523092 DOI: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202402.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
Forest fires have a significant impact on human life, property safety, and ecological environment. Deve-loping high-quality forest fire risk maps is beneficial for preventing forest fires, guiding resource allocation for firefighting, assisting in fire suppression efforts, and supporting decision-making. With a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method based on geographic information systems (GIS) and literature review, we assessed the main factors influencing the occurrences of forest fires in Youxi County, Fujian Province. We analyzed the importance of each fire risk factor using the analytic network process (ANP) and assigned weights, and evaluated the sub-standard weights using fuzzy logic assessment. Using ArcGIS aggregation functions, we generated a forest fire risk map and validated it with satellite fire points. The results showed that the areas classified as level 4 or higher fire risk accounted for a considerable proportion in Youxi County, and that the central and northern regions were at higher risk. The overall fire risk situation in the county was severe. The fuzzy ANP model demonstrated a high accuracy of 85.8%. The introduction of this novel MCDA method could effectively improve the accuracy of forest fire risk mapping at a small scale, providing a basis for early fire warning and the planning and allocation of firefighting resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Yun Ouyang
- College of Forestry, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
- 3S Technology and Resource Optimization Utilization Key Laboratory of Fujian Universities, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Zhang-Wen Su
- College of Forestry, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
- Zhangzhou Institute of Technology, Zhangzhou 363000, Fujian, China
| | - Chun-Hui Li
- College of Forestry, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
- 3S Technology and Resource Optimization Utilization Key Laboratory of Fujian Universities, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Ai-Cong Zeng
- College of Forestry, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
- 3S Technology and Resource Optimization Utilization Key Laboratory of Fujian Universities, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Fu-Tao Guo
- College of Forestry, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
- 3S Technology and Resource Optimization Utilization Key Laboratory of Fujian Universities, Fuzhou 350002, China
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6
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Flores BM, Montoya E, Sakschewski B, Nascimento N, Staal A, Betts RA, Levis C, Lapola DM, Esquível-Muelbert A, Jakovac C, Nobre CA, Oliveira RS, Borma LS, Nian D, Boers N, Hecht SB, Ter Steege H, Arieira J, Lucas IL, Berenguer E, Marengo JA, Gatti LV, Mattos CRC, Hirota M. Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system. Nature 2024; 626:555-564. [PMID: 38356065 PMCID: PMC10866695 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06970-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The possibility that the Amazon forest system could soon reach a tipping point, inducing large-scale collapse, has raised global concern1-3. For 65 million years, Amazonian forests remained relatively resilient to climatic variability. Now, the region is increasingly exposed to unprecedented stress from warming temperatures, extreme droughts, deforestation and fires, even in central and remote parts of the system1. Long existing feedbacks between the forest and environmental conditions are being replaced by novel feedbacks that modify ecosystem resilience, increasing the risk of critical transition. Here we analyse existing evidence for five major drivers of water stress on Amazonian forests, as well as potential critical thresholds of those drivers that, if crossed, could trigger local, regional or even biome-wide forest collapse. By combining spatial information on various disturbances, we estimate that by 2050, 10% to 47% of Amazonian forests will be exposed to compounding disturbances that may trigger unexpected ecosystem transitions and potentially exacerbate regional climate change. Using examples of disturbed forests across the Amazon, we identify the three most plausible ecosystem trajectories, involving different feedbacks and environmental conditions. We discuss how the inherent complexity of the Amazon adds uncertainty about future dynamics, but also reveals opportunities for action. Keeping the Amazon forest resilient in the Anthropocene will depend on a combination of local efforts to end deforestation and degradation and to expand restoration, with global efforts to stop greenhouse gas emissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernardo M Flores
- Graduate Program in Ecology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.
| | - Encarni Montoya
- Geosciences Barcelona, Spanish National Research Council, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Boris Sakschewski
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | | | - Arie Staal
- Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Richard A Betts
- Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, UK
- Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Carolina Levis
- Graduate Program in Ecology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil
| | - David M Lapola
- Center for Meteorological and Climatic Research Applied to Agriculture, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Adriane Esquível-Muelbert
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
- Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Catarina Jakovac
- Department of Plant Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil
| | - Carlos A Nobre
- Institute of Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Rafael S Oliveira
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Laura S Borma
- Division of Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerabilities (DIIAV), National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Da Nian
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Niklas Boers
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
- Earth System Modelling, School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Susanna B Hecht
- Luskin School for Public Affairs and Institute of the Environment, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hans Ter Steege
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Quantitative Biodiversity Dynamics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Julia Arieira
- Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | | | - Erika Berenguer
- Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - José A Marengo
- Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alerta de Desastres Naturais, São José dos Campos, Brazil
- Graduate Program in Natural Disasters, UNESP/CEMADEN, São José dos Campos, Brazil
- Graduate School of International Studies, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Luciana V Gatti
- Division of Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerabilities (DIIAV), National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Caio R C Mattos
- Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Marina Hirota
- Graduate Program in Ecology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
- Group IpES, Department of Physics, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.
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7
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Burke M, Childs ML, de la Cuesta B, Qiu M, Li J, Gould CF, Heft-Neal S, Wara M. The contribution of wildfire to PM 2.5 trends in the USA. Nature 2023; 622:761-766. [PMID: 37730996 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06522-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Steady improvements in ambient air quality in the USA over the past several decades, in part a result of public policy1,2, have led to public health benefits1-4. However, recent trends in ambient concentrations of particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), a pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act1, have stagnated or begun to reverse throughout much of the USA5. Here we use a combination of ground- and satellite-based air pollution data from 2000 to 2022 to quantify the contribution of wildfire smoke to these PM2.5 trends. We find that since at least 2016, wildfire smoke has influenced trends in average annual PM2.5 concentrations in nearly three-quarters of states in the contiguous USA, eroding about 25% of previous multi-decadal progress in reducing PM2.5 concentrations on average in those states, equivalent to 4 years of air quality progress, and more than 50% in many western states. Smoke influence on trends in the number of days with extreme PM2.5 concentrations is detectable by 2011, but the influence can be detected primarily in western and mid-western states. Wildfire-driven increases in ambient PM2.5 concentrations are unregulated under current air pollution law6 and, in the absence of further interventions, we show that the contribution of wildfire to regional and national air quality trends is likely to grow as the climate continues to warm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marshall Burke
- Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
- National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Marissa L Childs
- Center for the Environment, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Brandon de la Cuesta
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Minghao Qiu
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jessica Li
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Carlos F Gould
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Sam Heft-Neal
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Michael Wara
- Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Woods Institute of the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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8
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Xue T, Li J, Tong M, Fan X, Li P, Wang R, Li Y, Zheng Y, Li J, Guan T, Zhu T. Stillbirths attributable to open fires and their geographic disparities in non-Western countries. Environ Pollut 2023; 334:122170. [PMID: 37451590 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Due to global warming, an increased number of open fires is becoming a major contributor to PM2.5 pollution and thus a threat to public health. However, the burden of stillbirths attributable to fire-sourced PM2.5 is unknown. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is a co-occurrence of high baseline stillbirth rates and frequent firestorms, which may lead to a geographic disparity. Across 54 LMICs, we conducted a self-matched case-control study, making stillbirths comparable to the corresponding livebirths in terms of time-invariant characteristics (e.g., genetics) and duration of gestational exposure. We established a joint-exposure-response function (JERF) by simultaneously associating stillbirth with fire- and non-fire-sourced PM2.5 concentrations, which were estimated by fusing multi-source data, such as chemical transport model simulations and satellite observations. During 2000-2014, 35,590 pregnancies were selected from multiple Demographic and Health Surveys. In each mother, a case of stillbirth was compared to her livebirth(s) based on gestational exposure to fire-sourced PM2.5. We further applied the JERF to assess stillbirths attributable to fire-sourced PM2.5 in 136 non-Western countries. The disparity was evaluated using the Gini index. The risk of stillbirth increased by 17.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6-35.7%) per 10 μg/m3 increase in fire-sourced PM2.5. In 2014, referring to a minimum-risk exposure level of 10 μg/m3, total and fire-sourced PM2.5 contributed to 922,860 (95% CI: 578,451-1,183,720) and 49,951 (95% CI: 3,634-92,629) stillbirths, of which 10% were clustered within the 6.4% and 0.6% highest-exposure pregnancies, respectively. The Gini index of stillbirths attributable to fire-sourced PM2.5 was 0.65, much higher than for total PM2.5 (0.28). Protecting pregnant women against PM2.5 exposure during wildfires is critical to avoid stillbirths, as the burden of fire-associated stillbirths leads to a geographic disparity in maternal health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Xue
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management and Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Jiajianghui Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China.
| | - Mingkun Tong
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China.
| | - Xinguang Fan
- Department of Sociology, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Pengfei Li
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China; Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Ruohan Wang
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Epidemiology of Major Diseases (PKU), School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Centre, Beijing, China.
| | - Yanshun Li
- Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
| | - Yixuan Zheng
- Center of Air Quality Simulation and System Analysis, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, Beijing, China.
| | - Jiwei Li
- School of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Tianjia Guan
- Department of Health Policy, School of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China
| | - Tong Zhu
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100084, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Exposure and Health Risk Management and Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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9
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Xu R, Ye T, Yue X, Yang Z, Yu W, Zhang Y, Bell ML, Morawska L, Yu P, Zhang Y, Wu Y, Liu Y, Johnston F, Lei Y, Abramson MJ, Guo Y, Li S. Global population exposure to landscape fire air pollution from 2000 to 2019. Nature 2023; 621:521-529. [PMID: 37730866 PMCID: PMC10511322 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06398-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Wildfires are thought to be increasing in severity and frequency as a result of climate change1-5. Air pollution from landscape fires can negatively affect human health4-6, but human exposure to landscape fire-sourced (LFS) air pollution has not been well characterized at the global scale7-23. Here, we estimate global daily LFS outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and surface ozone concentrations at 0.25° × 0.25° resolution during the period 2000-2019 with the help of machine learning and chemical transport models. We found that overall population-weighted average LFS PM2.5 and ozone concentrations were 2.5 µg m-3 (6.1% of all-source PM2.5) and 3.2 µg m-3 (3.6% of all-source ozone), respectively, in 2010-2019, with a slight increase for PM2.5, but not for ozone, compared with 2000-2009. Central Africa, Southeast Asia, South America and Siberia experienced the highest LFS PM2.5 and ozone concentrations. The concentrations of LFS PM2.5 and ozone were about four times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries. During the period 2010-2019, 2.18 billion people were exposed to at least 1 day of substantial LFS air pollution per year, with each person in the world having, on average, 9.9 days of exposure per year. These two metrics increased by 6.8% and 2.1%, respectively, compared with 2000-2009. Overall, we find that the global population is increasingly exposed to LFS air pollution, with socioeconomic disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongbin Xu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tingting Ye
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Xu Yue
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China.
| | - Zhengyu Yang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Wenhua Yu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yiwen Zhang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Michelle L Bell
- School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lidia Morawska
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Pei Yu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yuxi Zhang
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yao Wu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yanming Liu
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Fay Johnston
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Yadong Lei
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather and Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry of CMA, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Michael J Abramson
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Yuming Guo
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Shanshan Li
- Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
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10
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Gatti LV, Cunha CL, Marani L, Cassol HLG, Messias CG, Arai E, Denning AS, Soler LS, Almeida C, Setzer A, Domingues LG, Basso LS, Miller JB, Gloor M, Correia CSC, Tejada G, Neves RAL, Rajao R, Nunes F, Filho BSS, Schmitt J, Nobre C, Corrêa SM, Sanches AH, Aragão LEOC, Anderson L, Von Randow C, Crispim SP, Silva FM, Machado GBM. Increased Amazon carbon emissions mainly from decline in law enforcement. Nature 2023; 621:318-323. [PMID: 37612502 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06390-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
The Amazon forest carbon sink is declining, mainly as a result of land-use and climate change1-4. Here we investigate how changes in law enforcement of environmental protection policies may have affected the Amazonian carbon balance between 2010 and 2018 compared with 2019 and 2020, based on atmospheric CO2 vertical profiles5,6, deforestation7 and fire data8, as well as infraction notices related to illegal deforestation9. We estimate that Amazonia carbon emissions increased from a mean of 0.24 ± 0.08 PgC year-1 in 2010-2018 to 0.44 ± 0.10 PgC year-1 in 2019 and 0.52 ± 0.10 PgC year-1 in 2020 (± uncertainty). The observed increases in deforestation were 82% and 77% (94% accuracy) and burned area were 14% and 42% in 2019 and 2020 compared with the 2010-2018 mean, respectively. We find that the numbers of notifications of infractions against flora decreased by 30% and 54% and fines paid by 74% and 89% in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Carbon losses during 2019-2020 were comparable with those of the record warm El Niño (2015-2016) without an extreme drought event. Statistical tests show that the observed differences between the 2010-2018 mean and 2019-2020 are unlikely to have arisen by chance. The changes in the carbon budget of Amazonia during 2019-2020 were mainly because of western Amazonia becoming a carbon source. Our results indicate that a decline in law enforcement led to increases in deforestation, biomass burning and forest degradation, which increased carbon emissions and enhanced drying and warming of the Amazon forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciana V Gatti
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil.
- Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN), São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Camilla L Cunha
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Luciano Marani
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Henrique L G Cassol
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Cassiano Gustavo Messias
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Egidio Arai
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | | | - Luciana S Soler
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Claudio Almeida
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Alberto Setzer
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Lucas Gatti Domingues
- Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN), São Paulo, Brazil
- National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
| | - Luana S Basso
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - John B Miller
- Global Monitoring Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Manuel Gloor
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Caio S C Correia
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
- Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Graciela Tejada
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Raiane A L Neves
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Raoni Rajao
- Remote Sensing Center, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Felipe Nunes
- Remote Sensing Center, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Britaldo S S Filho
- Remote Sensing Center, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Jair Schmitt
- Remote Sensing Center, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Carlos Nobre
- Instituto de Estudos Avançados (IEA), University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sergio M Corrêa
- Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Alber H Sanches
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Luiz E O C Aragão
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Liana Anderson
- Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais (CEMADEN), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Celso Von Randow
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Stephane P Crispim
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Francine M Silva
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
| | - Guilherme B M Machado
- General Coordination of Earth Science (CGCT), National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil
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11
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Brown PT, Hanley H, Mahesh A, Reed C, Strenfel SJ, Davis SJ, Kochanski AK, Clements CB. Climate warming increases extreme daily wildfire growth risk in California. Nature 2023; 621:760-766. [PMID: 37648863 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06444-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
California has experienced enhanced extreme wildfire behaviour in recent years1-3, leading to substantial loss of life and property4,5. Some portion of the change in wildfire behaviour is attributable to anthropogenic climate warming, but formally quantifying this contribution is difficult because of numerous confounding factors6,7 and because wildfires are below the grid scale of global climate models. Here we use machine learning to quantify empirical relationships between temperature (as well as the influence of temperature on aridity) and the risk of extreme daily wildfire growth (>10,000 acres) in California and find that the influence of temperature on the risk is primarily mediated through its influence on fuel moisture. We use the uncovered relationships to estimate the changes in extreme daily wildfire growth risk under anthropogenic warming by subjecting historical fires from 2003 to 2020 to differing background climatological temperatures and aridity conditions. We find that the influence of anthropogenic warming on the risk of extreme daily wildfire growth varies appreciably on a fire-by-fire and day-by-day basis, depending on whether or not climate warming pushes conditions over certain thresholds of aridity, such as 1.5 kPa of vapour-pressure deficit and 10% dead fuel moisture. So far, anthropogenic warming has enhanced the aggregate expected frequency of extreme daily wildfire growth by 25% (5-95 range of 14-36%), on average, relative to preindustrial conditions. But for some fires, there was approximately no change, and for other fires, the enhancement has been as much as 461%. When historical fires are subjected to a range of projected end-of-century conditions, the aggregate expected frequency of extreme daily wildfire growth events increases by 59% (5-95 range of 47-71%) under a low SSP1-2.6 emissions scenario compared with an increase of 172% (5-95 range of 156-188%) under a very high SSP5-8.5 emissions scenario, relative to preindustrial conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick T Brown
- Climate and Energy Team, The Breakthrough Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC), San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA.
- Energy Policy and Climate Program, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Holt Hanley
- Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC), San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA
- Department of Meteorology and Climate Science, San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA
- KSBW News, Salinas, CA, USA
| | - Ankur Mahesh
- Climate and Ecosystems Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Colorado Reed
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Steven J Davis
- Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Adam K Kochanski
- Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC), San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA
- Department of Meteorology and Climate Science, San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA
| | - Craig B Clements
- Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC), San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA
- Department of Meteorology and Climate Science, San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA
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12
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Schug F, Bar-Massada A, Carlson AR, Cox H, Hawbaker TJ, Helmers D, Hostert P, Kaim D, Kasraee NK, Martinuzzi S, Mockrin MH, Pfoch KA, Radeloff VC. The global wildland-urban interface. Nature 2023; 621:94-99. [PMID: 37468636 PMCID: PMC10482693 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06320-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is where buildings and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle1,2. It is where human-environmental conflicts and risks can be concentrated, including the loss of houses and lives to wildfire, habitat loss and fragmentation and the spread of zoonotic diseases3. However, a global analysis of the WUI has been lacking. Here, we present a global map of the 2020 WUI at 10 m resolution using a globally consistent and validated approach based on remote sensing-derived datasets of building area4 and wildland vegetation5. We show that the WUI is a global phenomenon, identify many previously undocumented WUI hotspots and highlight the wide range of population density, land cover types and biomass levels in different parts of the global WUI. The WUI covers only 4.7% of the land surface but is home to nearly half its population (3.5 billion). The WUI is especially widespread in Europe (15% of the land area) and the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome (18%). Of all people living near 2003-2020 wildfires (0.4 billion), two thirds have their home in the WUI, most of them in Africa (150 million). Given that wildfire activity is predicted to increase because of climate change in many regions6, there is a need to understand housing growth and vegetation patterns as drivers of WUI change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franz Schug
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
| | - Avi Bar-Massada
- Department of Biology and Environment, University of Haifa at Oranim, Kiryat Tivon, Israel
| | - Amanda R Carlson
- US Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Lakewood, CO, USA
| | - Heather Cox
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Todd J Hawbaker
- US Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Lakewood, CO, USA
| | - David Helmers
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Patrick Hostert
- Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Dominik Kaim
- Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Neda K Kasraee
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Sebastián Martinuzzi
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Miranda H Mockrin
- Northern Research Station, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kira A Pfoch
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Volker C Radeloff
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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13
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Mahmoud H. The causes of wildfires are clear. How they burn through communities is not. Nature 2023; 620:923. [PMID: 37640822 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-02687-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
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14
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15
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Owens B. Why are the Canadian wildfires so bad this year? Nature 2023; 618:439-440. [PMID: 37296265 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-01902-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
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16
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Yang CE, Fu JS, Liu Y, Dong X, Liu Y. Projections of future wildfires impacts on air pollutants and air toxics in a changing climate over the western United States. Environ Pollut 2022; 304:119213. [PMID: 35351594 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Revised: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Wildfires emit smoke particles and gaseous pollutants that greatly aggravate air quality and cause adverse health impacts in the western US (WUS). This study evaluates how wildfire impacts on air pollutants and air toxics evolve from the present climate to the future climate under a high anthropogenic emission scenario at regional and city scales. Through employing multiple climate and chemical transport models, small changes in domain-averaged air pollutant concentrations by wildfires are simulated over WUS. However, such changes significantly increase future city-scale pollutant concentrations by up to 53 ppb for benzene, 158 ppb for formaldehyde, 655 μg/m3 for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and 102 ppb for ozone, whereas that for the present climate are 104 ppb for benzene, 332 ppb for formaldehyde, 1,378 μg/m3 for PM2.5, and 140 ppb for ozone. Despite wildfires induce smaller changes in the future, the wildfire contribution ratios can increase by more than tenfold compared to the present climate, indicating wildfires become a more critical contributor to future air pollution in WUS. In addition, additional 6 exceedance days/year for formaldehyde and additional 3 exceedance days/year for ozone suggest increasing health impacts by wildfires in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng-En Yang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Joshua S Fu
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA; Computational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
| | - Yongqiang Liu
- Center for Forest Disturbance Science, USDA Forest Service, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Xinyi Dong
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Yang Liu
- Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
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17
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Abstract
Recent dramatic and deadly increases in global wildfire activity have increased attention on the causes of wildfires, their consequences, and how risk from wildfire might be mitigated. Here we bring together data on the changing risk and societal burden of wildfire in the United States. We estimate that nearly 50 million homes are currently in the wildland-urban interface in the United States, a number increasing by 1 million houses every 3 y. To illustrate how changes in wildfire activity might affect air pollution and related health outcomes, and how these linkages might guide future science and policy, we develop a statistical model that relates satellite-based fire and smoke data to information from pollution monitoring stations. Using the model, we estimate that wildfires have accounted for up to 25% of PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter <2.5 μm) in recent years across the United States, and up to half in some Western regions, with spatial patterns in ambient smoke exposure that do not follow traditional socioeconomic pollution exposure gradients. We combine the model with stylized scenarios to show that fuel management interventions could have large health benefits and that future health impacts from climate-change-induced wildfire smoke could approach projected overall increases in temperature-related mortality from climate change-but that both estimates remain uncertain. We use model results to highlight important areas for future research and to draw lessons for policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marshall Burke
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
- National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Anne Driscoll
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Sam Heft-Neal
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Jiani Xue
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Jennifer Burney
- School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
| | - Michael Wara
- Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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18
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Rajarethinam J, Aik J, Tian J. The Influence of South East Asia Forest Fires on Ambient Particulate Matter Concentrations in Singapore: An Ecological Study Using Random Forest and Vector Autoregressive Models. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17:ijerph17249345. [PMID: 33327455 PMCID: PMC7765006 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17249345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Revised: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Haze, due to biomass burning, is a recurring problem in Southeast Asia (SEA). Exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) remains an important public health concern. In this paper, we examined the long-term seasonality of PM2.5 and PM10 in Singapore. To study the association between forest fires in SEA and air quality in Singapore, we built two machine learning models, including the random forest (RF) model and the vector autoregressive (VAR) model, using a benchmark air quality dataset containing daily PM2.5 and PM10 from 2009 to 2018. Furthermore, we incorporated weather parameters as independent variables. We observed two annual peaks, one in the middle of the year and one at the end of the year for both PM2.5 and PM10. Singapore was more affected by fires from Kalimantan compared to fires from other SEA countries. VAR models performed better than RF with Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) values being 0.8% and 6.1% lower for PM2.5 and PM10, respectively. The situation in Singapore can be reasonably anticipated with predictive models that incorporate information on forest fires and weather variations. Public communication of anticipated air quality at the national level benefits those at higher risk of experiencing poorer health due to poorer air quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayanthi Rajarethinam
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way, #06-05/08, Singapore 138667, Singapore;
- Correspondence:
| | - Joel Aik
- Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, 11 Biopolis Way, #06-05/08, Singapore 138667, Singapore;
- Pre-Hospital & Emergency Research Centre, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, Singapore 169857, Singapore
| | - Jing Tian
- Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore, 29 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Block C, D & E, Singapore 119620, Singapore;
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Tran BN, Tanase MA, Bennett LT, Aponte C. High-severity wildfires in temperate Australian forests have increased in extent and aggregation in recent decades. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0242484. [PMID: 33206713 PMCID: PMC7673578 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Wildfires have increased in size and frequency in recent decades in many biomes, but have they also become more severe? This question remains under-examined despite fire severity being a critical aspect of fire regimes that indicates fire impacts on ecosystem attributes and associated post-fire recovery. We conducted a retrospective analysis of wildfires larger than 1000 ha in south-eastern Australia to examine the extent and spatial pattern of high-severity burned areas between 1987 and 2017. High-severity maps were generated from Landsat remote sensing imagery. Total and proportional high-severity burned area increased through time. The number of high-severity patches per year remained unchanged but variability in patch size increased, and patches became more aggregated and more irregular in shape. Our results confirm that wildfires in southern Australia have become more severe. This shift in fire regime may have critical consequences for ecosystem dynamics, as fire-adapted temperate forests are more likely to be burned at high severities relative to historical ranges, a trend that seems set to continue under projections of a hotter, drier climate in south-eastern Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bang Nguyen Tran
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
- Faculty of Environment, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Trauquy, Gialam, Hanoi, Vietnam
- * E-mail:
| | - Mihai A. Tanase
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Geology, Geography and Environment, University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Lauren T. Bennett
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Creswick, Victoria, Australia
| | - Cristina Aponte
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
- National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Dracea”, Voluntari, Ilfov, Romania
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20
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Rodríguez-Pérez JR, Ordóñez C, Roca-Pardiñas J, Vecín-Arias D, Castedo-Dorado F. Evaluating Lightning-Caused Fire Occurrence Using Spatial Generalized Additive Models: A Case Study in Central Spain. Risk Anal 2020; 40:1418-1437. [PMID: 32347573 DOI: 10.1111/risa.13488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2017] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
It is widely accepted that the relationship between lightning wildfire occurrence and its influencing factors vary depending on the spatial scale of analysis, making the development of models at the regional scale advisable. In this study, we analyze the effects of different biophysical variables and lightning characteristics on lightning-caused forest wildfires in Castilla y León region (Central Spain). The presence/absence of at least one lightning-caused fire in any 4 × 4-km grid cell was used as a dependent variable and vegetation type and structure, terrain, climate, and lightning characteristics were used as possible covariates. Five prediction methods were compared: a generalized linear model (GLM), a random forest model (RFM), a generalized additive model (GAM), a GAM that includes a spatial trend function (GAMs) and a spatial autoregressive model (AUREG). A GAMs with just one covariate, apart from longitude and latitude for each observation included as a combined effect, was considered the most appropriate model in terms of both predictive ability and simplicity. According to our results, the probability of a forest being affected by a lightning-caused fire is positively and nonlinearly associated with the percentage of coniferous woodlands in the landscape, suggesting that occurrence is more closely associated with vegetation type than with topography, climate, or lightning characteristics. The selected GAMs is intended to inform the Regional Government of Castilla y León (the fire and fuel agency in the region) regarding identification of areas at greatest risk so it can design long-term forest fuel and fire management strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Celestino Ordóñez
- Department of Mining Exploitation and Prospecting, Polytechnic School of Mieres, Universidad de Oviedo, Mieres, Asturias, Spain
| | - Javier Roca-Pardiñas
- Department of Statistics and Operations Research, SIDOR Research Group, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain
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21
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Cheng C, Zhou H, Chai X, Li Y, Wang D, Ji Y, Niu S, Hou Y. Adoption of image surface parameters under moving edge computing in the construction of mountain fire warning method. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232433. [PMID: 32459811 PMCID: PMC7252597 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
In order to cope with the problems of high frequency and multiple causes of mountain fires, it is very important to adopt appropriate technologies to monitor and warn mountain fires through a few surface parameters. At the same time, the existing mobile terminal equipment is insufficient in image processing and storage capacity, and the energy consumption is high in the data transmission process, which requires calculation unloading. For this circumstance, first, a hierarchical discriminant analysis algorithm based on image feature extraction is introduced, and the image acquisition software in the mobile edge computing environment in the android system is designed and installed. Based on the remote sensing data, the land surface parameters of mountain fire are obtained, and the application of image recognition optimization algorithm in the mobile edge computing (MEC) environment is realized to solve the problem of transmission delay caused by traditional mobile cloud computing (MCC). Then, according to the forest fire sensitivity index, a forest fire early warning model based on MEC is designed. Finally, the image recognition response time and bandwidth consumption of the algorithm are studied, and the occurrence probability of mountain fire in Muli county, Liangshan prefecture, Sichuan is predicted. The results show that, compared with the MCC architecture, the algorithm presented in this study has shorter recognition and response time to different images in WiFi network environment; compared with MCC, MEC architecture can identify close users and transmit less data, which can effectively reduce the bandwidth pressure of the network. In most areas of Muli county, Liangshan prefecture, the probability of mountain fire is relatively low, the probability of mountain fire caused by non-surface environment is about 8 times that of the surface environment, and the influence of non-surface environment in the period of high incidence of mountain fire is lower than that in the period of low incidence. In conclusion, the surface parameters of MEC can be used to effectively predict the mountain fire and provide preventive measures in time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Cheng
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
| | - Hui Zhou
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
- * E-mail:
| | - Xuchao Chai
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
| | - Yang Li
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
| | - Danning Wang
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
| | - Yao Ji
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
| | - Shichuan Niu
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
| | - Ying Hou
- The Second Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Xi an, China
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Tamburis O, Giannino F, D’Arco M, Tocchi A, Esposito C, Di Fiore G, Piscopo N, Esposito L. A Night at the OPERA: A Conceptual Framework for an Integrated Distributed Sensor Network-Based System to Figure out Safety Protocols for Animals under Risk of Fire. Sensors (Basel) 2020; 20:s20092538. [PMID: 32365698 PMCID: PMC7249212 DOI: 10.3390/s20092538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Large scale wildfire events that occurred around the world involved a massive loss of animal lives, with a consequent economic impact on agricultural holdings and damages to ecosystems. Preparing animals for a wildfire evacuation requires an extra level of planning, preparedness and coordination, which is missing in the current practice. This paper describes a conceptual framework of an ICT system implemented to support the activities of the Regional Veterinary referral Center for non-epidemic emergencies (CeRVEnE) in the Campania Region for the twofold objectives. On the one hand, it realizes the monitoring of the wooded areas under risk of fire in the so-called “Mount Vesuvius’ red zone”. On the other hand, it determines the OPtimal Evacuation Route for Animals (OPERA) in case of fire, for each of the reported animal species living in the mentioned red zone. The main innovation of the proposed system lies in its software architecture that aims at integrating a Distributed Sensor Network (DSN), an ad-hoc software to generate timely simulations for fire risk modeling, and a GIS (Geographic Information System) for both the activities of web mapping and OPERA definition. This paper shows some effective preliminary results of the system implementation. The importance of the system mainly lies in its accordance with the so-called “Foresight approach” perspective, that provides models and tools to guarantee the prevention of systematic failure in disaster risk management, and becomes moreover critical in the case of Mount Vesuvius, which hosts a unique combination of both animal and anthropic elements within a delicate natural ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar Tamburis
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, 80137 Naples, Italy; (N.P.); (L.E.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-081-2536-197
| | - Francesco Giannino
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy;
| | - Mauro D’Arco
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy; (M.D.); (A.T.)
| | - Alessandro Tocchi
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy; (M.D.); (A.T.)
| | - Christian Esposito
- Department of Computer Science, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy;
| | - Giorgio Di Fiore
- CeRVEnE (Regional Veterinary referral Center for non-epidemic emergencies), 84031 Auletta (SA), Italy;
| | - Nadia Piscopo
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, 80137 Naples, Italy; (N.P.); (L.E.)
| | - Luigi Esposito
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, University of Naples Federico II, 80137 Naples, Italy; (N.P.); (L.E.)
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Abstract
Fire-prone invasive grasses create novel ecosystem threats by increasing fine-fuel loads and continuity, which can alter fire regimes. While the existence of an invasive grass-fire cycle is well known, evidence of altered fire regimes is typically based on local-scale studies or expert knowledge. Here, we quantify the effects of 12 nonnative, invasive grasses on fire occurrence, size, and frequency across 29 US ecoregions encompassing more than one third of the conterminous United States. These 12 grass species promote fire locally and have extensive spatial records of abundant infestations. We combined agency and satellite fire data with records of abundant grass invasion to test for differences in fire regimes between invaded and nearby "uninvaded" habitat. Additionally, we assessed whether invasive grass presence is a significant predictor of altered fire by modeling fire occurrence, size, and frequency as a function of grass invasion, in addition to anthropogenic and ecological covariates relevant to fire. Eight species showed significantly higher fire-occurrence rates, which more than tripled for Schismus barbatus and Pennisetum ciliare. Six species demonstrated significantly higher mean fire frequency, which more than doubled for Neyraudia reynaudiana and Pennisetum ciliare Grass invasion was significant in fire occurrence and frequency models, but not in fire-size models. The significant differences in fire regimes, coupled with the importance of grass invasion in modeling these differences, suggest that invasive grasses alter US fire regimes at regional scales. As concern about US wildfires grows, accounting for fire-promoting invasive grasses will be imperative for effectively managing ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Fusco
- Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003;
| | - John T Finn
- Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
| | - Jennifer K Balch
- Earth Lab, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
- Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
| | | | - Bethany A Bradley
- Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
- Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
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Volkova L, Weiss Aparicio AG, Weston CJ. Fire intensity effects on post-fire fuel recovery in Eucalyptus open forests of south-eastern Australia. Sci Total Environ 2019; 670:328-336. [PMID: 30904646 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2018] [Revised: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This is a study of the re-accumulation of bushfire fuels following both prescribed fire of low fireline intensity (<700 kW m-1) and wildfire of high intensity (>10,000 kW m-1) in Australian Eucalyptus open forests of differing annual rainfall. Repeated measurements over 5 to 7 years of litter, elevated fuels, coarse woody debris, and bark revealed more rapid fuel recovery in higher rainfall forests compared with lower rainfall forests, following prescribed fire. In prescribed-burnt forests with mean annual rainfall 900-950 mm all fuel categories recovered to very high within seven years, with elevated fuels exceeding pre-fire loads by up to 200%. No fuels in prescribed-burnt forests with mean annual rainfall 600-650 mm recovered to pre-fire loads after six years suggesting that rainfall is an important driver of the rate of fuels recovery. High intensity wildfire in lower rainfall forests (600-650 mm) stimulated the rapid recovery of elevated fuels to over 600% of pre-fire loads - effectively transforming open forest formations into shrublands over the 6 years after fire. The recovery of elevated fuels following both prescribed fire in high rainfall forests and wildfire in low rainfall forests did not follow a gradual negative exponential increase often approximated by an Olson curve, but peaked early after fires. This suggests that the Olson recovery function, the default for predicting loads for these fuels in the operational fire behaviour models in use in south-eastern Australia, may not be appropriate in all cases. Fire simulations were run for forests burnt in wildfires using default (forest) and observed (shrubland) vegetation types. Under weather conditions similar to the previous wildfire, predictions for fireline intensities and the rate of spread would be at least 50% greater in transitional shrubland than forest, emphasizing the importance of accounting for vegetation dynamics for safe response management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liubov Volkova
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Water Street, Creswick, Victoria 3363, Australia.
| | - Alexander G Weiss Aparicio
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Water Street, Creswick, Victoria 3363, Australia; Institut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christopher J Weston
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Water Street, Creswick, Victoria 3363, Australia
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Teruel-Coll M, Pareja J, Bartolomé J, Serrano E, Mentaberre G, Cuenca R, Espunyes J, Pauné F, Calleja JA. Effects of boom and bust grazing management on vegetation and health of beef cattle used for wildfire prevention in a Mediterranean forest. Sci Total Environ 2019; 665:18-22. [PMID: 30772547 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Revised: 02/02/2019] [Accepted: 02/02/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Humans and wildfires have historically driven landscape structure in the Mediterranean basin. The Iberian Peninsula is not an exception to that rule, and therefore, farmers, researchers, and governments seek alternative tools to minimize the loss of biodiversity and wildfire risks. Extensive livestock including beef cattle is currently promoted as a suitable management tool by European agro-environmental policies yet pieces of evidence exist regarding the reciprocal effects between cows and Mediterranean woody vegetation. In this work, we performed a field manipulation to evaluate whether free-ranging beef cattle without supplementary feeding, at high density (2 livestock units (LU)/ha) for a short period of time i.e. "boom and bust grazing" management, are able to adapt their grazing preferences to the Mediterranean woody vegetation without health impairment, and prevent from bush encroachment and wildfires. For our purposes, a native herd of 14 adult cows was kept captive without supplementary feeding in a 14 ha enclosure covered by Mediterranean vegetation for two months (April-June 2016). Plant and cattle fecal and blood samples were collected to assess diet composition (plant cuticle microhistological analysis), fecal nitrogen and protein contents of consumed plants, and the nutritional status (non-esterified fatty acids) of cattle. Our results showed that cattle adapted their feeding habits toward a more woody diet including potentially flammable taxa but with some detrimental effects on health status. Hence, cattle cannot control woody vegetation for long periods of time without supplementary feeding. Further research should be oriented to explore other alternative approaches to minimize the health impairment of cattle used for control flammable vegetation in Mediterranean regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Teruel-Coll
- Wildlife Ecology & Health Group (WE&H), Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Javier Pareja
- Ruminant Research Group, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Bartolomé
- Ruminant Research Group, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Emmanuel Serrano
- Wildlife Ecology & Health Group (WE&H), Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gregorio Mentaberre
- Wildlife Ecology & Health Group (WE&H), Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rafaela Cuenca
- Wildlife Ecology & Health Group (WE&H), Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Johan Espunyes
- Wildlife Ecology & Health Group (WE&H), Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Juan Antonio Calleja
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Botánica, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
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Shi Y, Zhao A, Matsunaga T, Yamaguchi Y, Zang S, Li Z, Yu T, Gu X. High-resolution inventory of mercury emissions from biomass burning in tropical continents during 2001-2017. Sci Total Environ 2019; 653:638-648. [PMID: 30759589 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2018] [Revised: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Mercury emissions from biomass burning contribute significantly to the atmospheric mercury budget and the interannual variation of mercury concentrations in the troposphere. This study developed a high-resolution (0.1° × 0.1°) monthly inventory of mercury emissions from biomass burning across five land types in the tropical continents (Central and South America, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia) during 2001-2017. The inventory estimates of mercury emissions from biomass burning are based on the newly released MCD64A1 Version 6 Burned Area data product, satellite and observational data of biomass density, and spatial and temporal variable combustion factors. Results from the inventory demonstrated that during 2001-2017, the average annual mercury emissions from biomass burning in tropical continents was 497 Mg and ranged from 289 Mg to 681 Mg. Forest fires were the largest contributor, accounting for 61% (300 Mg) of the total mercury emissions from biomass burning, followed by fires in woody savanna/shrubland (30%, 151 Mg), savanna/grassland (7%, 35 Mg), peatland (1%, 6 Mg), and cropland (1%, 5 Mg). However, these proportions varied between the continents; in the Americas and Asia, the largest biomass burning emissions came from forest fires, and in Africa the largest emissions were from fires woody savanna/shrubland. Between the three continents, Africa released 41% of the mercury emissions from biomass burning (202 Mg year-1), Asia released 31% (154 Mg year-1), and the Americas released 28% (141 Mg year-1). The total mercury emissions from biomass burning in these tropical continents exhibited strong interannual variations from 2001 to 2017, with peak emissions in March and August to September, and forest fires were the primary land type controlling the interannual variations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusheng Shi
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan; Satellite Observation Center, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan.
| | - Aimei Zhao
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Tsuneo Matsunaga
- Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan; Satellite Observation Center, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan
| | - Yasushi Yamaguchi
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
| | - Shuying Zang
- School of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China
| | - Zhengqiang Li
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Tao Yu
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xingfa Gu
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
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Dos Santos JFC, Gleriani JM, Velloso SGS, de Souza GSA, do Amaral CH, Torres FTP, Medeiros NDG, Dos Reis M. Wildfires as a major challenge for natural regeneration in Atlantic Forest. Sci Total Environ 2019; 650:809-821. [PMID: 30308856 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2018] [Revised: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 09/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The natural regeneration management is a good strategy of ecological restoration of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most devastated biomes on the planet. However, the frequent occurrence of wildfires is one of the challenges to the success of this method. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of wildfires on forest dynamics in Atlantic Forest. The studied area was explored during the coffee cycle when plantations replaced primary forests. We used remote sensing data to analyze the forest dynamics over a period of 50 years (1966-2016). We used the INPE burn database to find the occurrence of hot spots from 1998 to 2016. During this period, we selected the years most affected by the fires for the identification of fire scars using the Normalized Burn Ratio spectral index. From this set of information, we used the methodology of weights of evidence to relate forest dynamics and wildfire events with biophysical and anthropic variables. The results showed that in 1966 the forest area accounted for 8.01% of the land cover, and in 2016 this number rose to 18.55% due to the spontaneous natural regeneration process. The regenerating areas were mainly related to the proximity of the remaining fragments and the portions of the landscape receiving the least amount of global solar radiation. The proximity to urban areas, roads and highways, damaged regeneration and favored both deforestation and wildfire events. Fire scars preferentially occur where there is greater sun exposure. It is possible to observe a negative correlation between the natural regeneration process and the fire scars. We concluded that fire severity is one of the factors that shape the landscape of the region while slowing the regeneration process in preferential areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Flávio Costa Dos Santos
- Department of Forest Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa CEP 36570-900, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
| | - José Marinaldo Gleriani
- Department of Forest Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa CEP 36570-900, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
| | | | | | - Cibele Hummel do Amaral
- Department of Forest Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa CEP 36570-900, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
| | | | | | - Mateus Dos Reis
- Department of Environmental Dynamics, National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus CEP 69067-375, Amazonas, Brazil
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Yang X, Yu Y, Hu H, Sun L. Moisture content estimation of forest litter based on remote sensing data. Environ Monit Assess 2018; 190:421. [PMID: 29934742 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-018-6792-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2017] [Accepted: 06/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
As a fine fuel, forest litter plays an important role in fire danger rating systems, so forest litter moisture data are necessary and meaningful for fire risk management and prevention. An optical remote sensing technique can provide continuous and regional data for litter moisture estimates, but such an approach is restricted in separating the background reflectance of the forest floor from pixel reflectance because the litter moisture information is included only in background reflectance while pixel reflectance in the forest area consists of both canopy reflectance and background reflectance. Therefore, we present a geometrical-optical model to estimate forest litter moisture by separating contributions of background reflectance from the remote sensing image and use a statistical model to estimate the forest litter moisture content based on the calculated background reflectance. The results show that the model had an R2, root mean square error (RMSE), and average precision of 0.595, 0.372, and 69.654%, respectively. This approach provides a new way of estimating forest litter moisture content from an optical remote sensing image, and it can potentially be applied in large-scale forest litter moisture content mapping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiguang Yang
- Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration (SAVER), Ministry of Education, Alkali Soil Natural Environmental Science Center (ASNESC), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Ying Yu
- Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Haiqing Hu
- Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
| | - Long Sun
- Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
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Alonso-Blanco E, Castro A, Calvo AI, Pont V, Mallet M, Fraile R. Wildfire smoke plumes transport under a subsidence inversion: Climate and health implications in a distant urban area. Sci Total Environ 2018; 619-620:988-1002. [PMID: 29734644 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2017] [Revised: 11/12/2017] [Accepted: 11/13/2017] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Alonso-Blanco
- Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology Research (CIEMAT), Department of the Environment, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Amaya Castro
- Department of Physics (IMARENAB), University of León, 24071 León, Spain
| | - Ana I Calvo
- Department of Physics (IMARENAB), University of León, 24071 León, Spain
| | - Veronique Pont
- Laboratoire d'Aérologie/OMP, UMR 5560, Université de Toulouse III, CNRS-UPS, 14, av. E. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Marc Mallet
- Laboratoire d'Aérologie/OMP, UMR 5560, Université de Toulouse III, CNRS-UPS, 14, av. E. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Roberto Fraile
- Department of Physics (IMARENAB), University of León, 24071 León, Spain.
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Radeloff VC, Helmers DP, Kramer HA, Mockrin MH, Alexandre PM, Bar-Massada A, Butsic V, Hawbaker TJ, Martinuzzi S, Syphard AD, Stewart SI. Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:3314-3319. [PMID: 29531054 PMCID: PMC5879688 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1718850115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 178] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the area where houses and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle, and where wildfire problems are most pronounced. Here we report that the WUI in the United States grew rapidly from 1990 to 2010 in terms of both number of new houses (from 30.8 to 43.4 million; 41% growth) and land area (from 581,000 to 770,000 km2; 33% growth), making it the fastest-growing land use type in the conterminous United States. The vast majority of new WUI areas were the result of new housing (97%), not related to an increase in wildland vegetation. Within the perimeter of recent wildfires (1990-2015), there were 286,000 houses in 2010, compared with 177,000 in 1990. Furthermore, WUI growth often results in more wildfire ignitions, putting more lives and houses at risk. Wildfire problems will not abate if recent housing growth trends continue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Volker C Radeloff
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706;
| | - David P Helmers
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | - H Anu Kramer
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Miranda H Mockrin
- Northern Research Station, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Baltimore, MD 21228
| | - Patricia M Alexandre
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Avi Bar-Massada
- Department of Biology and Environment, University of Haifa-Oranim, 36006 Kiryat Tivon, Israel
| | - Van Butsic
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Todd J Hawbaker
- Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, US Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225
| | - Sebastián Martinuzzi
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | | | - Susan I Stewart
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
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Viner BJ, Jannik T, Hepworth A, Adetona O, Naeher L, Eddy T, Doman E, Blake J. Predicted cumulative dose to firefighters and the offsite public from natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in smoke from wildland fires at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina USA. J Environ Radioact 2018; 182:1-11. [PMID: 29175006 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.10.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Revised: 10/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/27/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The contaminated ground surface at Savannah River Site (SRS) is a result of the decades of work that has been performed maintaining the country's nuclear stockpile and performing research and development on nuclear materials. The volatilization of radionuclides during wildfire results in airborne particles that are dispersed within the smoke plume and may result in doses to downwind firefighters and the public. To better understand the risk that these smoke plumes present, we have characterized four regions at SRS in terms of their fuel characteristics and radiological contamination on the ground. Combined with general meteorological conditions describing typical and extreme burn conditions, we have simulated potential fires in these regions and predicted the potential radiological dose that could be received by firefighting personnel and the public surrounding the SRS. In all cases, the predicted cumulative dose was a small percent of the US Department of Energy regulatory limit (0.25 mSv). These predictions were conservative and assumed that firefighters would be exposed for the duration of their shift and the public would be exposed for the entire day over the duration of the burn. Realistically, firefighters routinely rotate off the firefront during their shift and the public would likely remain indoors much of the day. However, we show that even under worst-case conditions the regulatory limits are not exceeded. We can infer that the risks associated with wildfires would not be expected to cause cumulative doses above the level of concern to either responding personnel or the offsite public.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Luke Naeher
- University of Georgia School of Public Health, USA
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Kooistra C, Hall TE, Paveglio T, Pickering M. Understanding the Factors that Influence Perceptions of Post-Wildfire Landscape Recovery Across 25 Wildfires in the Northwestern United States. Environ Manage 2018; 61:85-102. [PMID: 29177894 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-017-0962-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2017] [Accepted: 11/09/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Disturbances such as wildfire are important features of forested landscapes. The trajectory of changes following wildfires (often referred to as landscape recovery) continues to be an important research topic among ecologists and wildfire scientists. However, the landscape recovery process also has important social dimensions that may or may not correspond to ecological or biophysical perspectives. Perceptions of landscape recovery may affect people's attitudes and behaviors related to forest and wildfire management. We explored the variables that influence people's perceptions of landscape recovery across 25 fires that occurred in 2011 or 2012 in the United States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana and that represented a range of fire behavior characteristics and landscape impacts. Residents near each of the 25 fires were randomly selected to receive questionnaires about their experiences with the nearby fire, including perceived impacts and how the landscape had recovered since the fire. People generally perceived landscapes as recovering, even though only one to two years had passed. Regression analysis suggested that perceptions of landscape recovery were positively related to stronger beliefs about the ecological role of fire and negatively related to loss of landscape attachment, concern about erosion, increasing distance from the fire perimeter, and longer lasting fires. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis indicated that the above relationships were largely consistent across fires. These findings highlight that perceptions of post-fire landscape recovery are influenced by more than vegetation changes and include emotional and cognitive factors. We discuss the management implications of these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Kooistra
- Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
| | - T E Hall
- Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
| | - T Paveglio
- Natural Resources and Society, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, MS 1142, Moscow, ID, 83844-1142, USA
| | - M Pickering
- Public Health Program, Eastern Washington University, 668N. Riverpoint Blvd., Rm. 236, Spokane, WA, 99202, USA
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Kitzberger T, Falk DA, Westerling AL, Swetnam TW. Direct and indirect climate controls predict heterogeneous early-mid 21st century wildfire burned area across western and boreal North America. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188486. [PMID: 29244839 PMCID: PMC5731736 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2016] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Predicting wildfire under future conditions is complicated by complex interrelated drivers operating across large spatial scales. Annual area burned (AAB) is a useful index of global wildfire activity. Current and antecedent seasonal climatic conditions, and the timing of snowpack melt, have been suggested as important drivers of AAB. As climate warms, seasonal climate and snowpack co-vary in intricate ways, influencing fire at continental and sub-continental scales. We used independent records of seasonal climate and snow cover duration (last date of permanent snowpack, LDPS) and cell-based Structural Equation Models (SEM) to separate direct (climatic) and indirect (snow cover) effects on relative changes in AAB under future climatic scenarios across western and boreal North America. To isolate seasonal climate variables with the greatest effect on AAB, we ran multiple regression models of log-transformed AAB on seasonal climate variables and LDPS. We used the results of multiple regressions to project future AAB using GCM ensemble climate variables and LDPS, and validated model predictions with recent AAB trends. Direct influences of spring and winter temperatures on AAB are larger and more widespread than the indirect effect mediated by changes in LDPS in most areas. Despite significant warming trends and reductions in snow cover duration, projected responses of AAB to early-mid 21st century are heterogeneous across the continent. Changes in AAB range from strongly increasing (one order of magnitude increases in AAB) to moderately decreasing (more than halving of baseline AAB). Annual wildfire area burned in coming decades is likely to be highly geographically heterogeneous, reflecting interacting regional and seasonal climate drivers of fire occurrence and spread.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Kitzberger
- Laboratorio Ecotono, CONICET–INIBIOMA, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral, Bariloche, Argentina
- * E-mail:
| | - Donald A. Falk
- University of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
- University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Environment and Natural Resources Building, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
| | - Anthony L. Westerling
- Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, California, United States of America
| | - Thomas W. Swetnam
- University of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
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Kertész M, Aszalós R, Lengyel A, Ónodi G. Synergistic effects of the components of global change: Increased vegetation dynamics in open, forest-steppe grasslands driven by wildfires and year-to-year precipitation differences. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188260. [PMID: 29149208 PMCID: PMC5693438 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2016] [Accepted: 11/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change and land use change are two major elements of human-induced global environmental change. In temperate grasslands and woodlands, increasing frequency of extreme weather events like droughts and increasing severity of wildfires has altered the structure and dynamics of vegetation. In this paper, we studied the impact of wildfires and the year-to-year differences in precipitation on species composition changes in semi-arid grasslands of a forest-steppe complex ecosystem which has been partially disturbed by wildfires. Particularly, we investigated both how long-term compositional dissimilarity changes and species richness are affected by year-to-year precipitation differences on burnt and unburnt areas. Study sites were located in central Hungary, in protected areas characterized by partially-burnt, juniper-poplar forest-steppe complexes of high biodiversity. Data were used from two long-term monitoring sites in the Kiskunság National Park, both characterized by the same habitat complex. We investigated the variation in species composition as a function of time using distance decay methodology. In each sampling area, compositional dissimilarity increased with the time elapsed between the sampling events, and species richness differences increased with increasing precipitation differences between consecutive years. We found that both the long-term compositional dissimilarity, and the year-to-year changes in species richness were higher in the burnt areas than in the unburnt ones. The long-term compositional dissimilarities were mostly caused by perennial species, while the year-to-year changes of species richness were driven by annual and biennial species. As the effect of the year-to-year variation in precipitation was more pronounced in the burnt areas, we conclude that canopy removal by wildfires and extreme inter-annual variability of precipitation, two components of global environmental change, act in a synergistic way. They enhance the effect of one another, resulting in greater long-term and year-to-year changes in the composition of grasslands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miklós Kertész
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
- MTA Centre for Ecological Research, GINOP Sustainable Ecosystems Group, Tihany, Hungary
- * E-mail:
| | - Réka Aszalós
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Attila Lengyel
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Gábor Ónodi
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
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Goleiji E, Hosseini SM, Khorasani N, Monavari SM. Forest fire risk assessment-an integrated approach based on multicriteria evaluation. Environ Monit Assess 2017; 189:612. [PMID: 29110111 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-017-6225-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2017] [Accepted: 09/06/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The present study deals with application of the weighted linear combination method for zoning of forest fire risk in Dohezar and Sehezar region of Mazandaran province in northern Iran. In this study, the effective criteria for fires were identified by the Delphi method, and these included ecological and socioeconomic parameters. In this regard, the first step comprised of digital layers; the required data were provided from databases, related centers, and field data collected in the region. Then, the map of criteria was digitized in a geographic information system, and all criteria and indexes were normalized by fuzzy logic. After that, the geographic information system (GIS 10.3) was integrated with the Weighted Linear Combination and the Analytical Network Process, to produce zonation of the forest fire risk map in the Dohezar and Sehezar region. In order to analyze accuracy of the evaluation, the results obtained from the study were compared to records of former fire incidents in the region. This was done using the Kappa coefficient test and a receiver operating characteristic curve. The model showing estimations for forest fire risk explained that the prepared map had accuracy of 90% determined by the Kappa coefficient test and the value of 0.924 by receiver operating characteristic. These results showed that the prepared map had high accuracy and efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elham Goleiji
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Environment and Energy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Seyed Mohsen Hosseini
- Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Research and Marine Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Mazandaran, Iran.
| | - Nematollah Khorasani
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Environment and Energy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Seyed Masoud Monavari
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Environment and Energy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
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Bryant RA, Creamer M, O'Donnell M, Forbes D, Felmingham KL, Silove D, Malhi G, van Hoof M, McFarlane AC, Nickerson A. Separation from parents during childhood trauma predicts adult attachment security and post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychol Med 2017; 47:2028-2035. [PMID: 28535839 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291717000472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prolonged separation from parental support is a risk factor for psychopathology. This study assessed the impact of brief separation from parents during childhood trauma on adult attachment tendencies and post-traumatic stress. METHOD Children (n = 806) exposed to a major Australian bushfire disaster in 1983 and matched controls (n = 725) were assessed in the aftermath of the fires (mean age 7-8 years) via parent reports of trauma exposure and separation from parents during the fires. Participants (n = 500) were subsequently assessed 28 years after initial assessment on the Experiences in Close Relationships scale to assess attachment security, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was assessed using the PTSD checklist. RESULTS Being separated from parents was significantly related to having an avoidant attachment style as an adult (B = -3.69, s.e. = 1.48, β = -0.23, p = 0.013). Avoidant attachment was associated with re-experiencing (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.31, p = 0.045), avoidance (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.30, p = 0.001) and numbing (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.30, p < 0.001) symptoms. Anxious attachment was associated with re-experiencing (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.18, p = 0.001), numbing (B = 0.03, β = 0.30, s.e. = 0.01, p < 0.001) and arousal (B = 0.04, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.43, p < 0.001) symptoms. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate that brief separation from attachments during childhood trauma can have long-lasting effects on one's attachment security, and that this can be associated with adult post-traumatic psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- R A Bryant
- School of Psychology,University of New South Wales,Sydney,NSW 2052,Australia
| | - M Creamer
- Phoenix Institute,University of Melbourne,161 Barry Street,Carlton,VIC 3053,Australia
| | - M O'Donnell
- Phoenix Institute,University of Melbourne,161 Barry Street,Carlton,VIC 3053,Australia
| | - D Forbes
- Phoenix Institute,University of Melbourne,161 Barry Street,Carlton,VIC 3053,Australia
| | - K L Felmingham
- Department of Psychology,University of Tasmania,Hobart,TAS 7000,Australia
| | - D Silove
- School of Psychology,University of New South Wales,Sydney,NSW 2052,Australia
| | - G Malhi
- Department of Psychiatry,University of Sydney,St Leonards,NSW 2065,Australia
| | - M van Hoof
- Department of Psychiatry,University of Adelaide,Adelaide,SA 5000,Australia
| | - A C McFarlane
- Department of Psychiatry,University of Adelaide,Adelaide,SA 5000,Australia
| | - A Nickerson
- School of Psychology,University of New South Wales,Sydney,NSW 2052,Australia
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Alexandre PM, Stewart SI, Keuler NS, Clayton MK, Mockrin MH, Bar-Massada A, Syphard AD, Radeloff VC. Factors related to building loss due to wildfires in the conterminous United States. Ecol Appl 2016; 26:2323-2338. [PMID: 27755741 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2015] [Revised: 04/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/26/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Wildfire is globally an important ecological disturbance affecting biochemical cycles and vegetation composition, but also puts people and their homes at risk. Suppressing wildfires has detrimental ecological effects and can promote larger and more intense wildfires when fuels accumulate, which increases the threat to buildings in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Yet, when wildfires occur, typically only a small proportion of the buildings within the fire perimeter are lost, and the question is what determines which buildings burn. Our goal was to examine which factors are related to building loss when a wildfire occurs throughout the United States. We were particularly interested in the relative roles of vegetation, topography, and the spatial arrangement of buildings, and how their respective roles vary among ecoregions. We analyzed all fires that occurred within the conterminous United States from 2000 to 2010 and digitized which buildings were lost and which survived according to Google Earth historical imagery. We modeled the occurrence as well as the percentage of buildings lost within clusters using logistic and linear regression. Overall, variables related to topography and the spatial arrangement of buildings were more frequently present in the best 20 regression models than vegetation-related variables. In other words, specific locations in the landscape have a higher fire risk, and certain development patterns can exacerbate that risk. Fire policies and prevention efforts focused on vegetation management are important, but insufficient to solve current wildfire problems. Furthermore, the factors associated with building loss varied considerably among ecoregions suggesting that fire policy applied uniformly across the United States will not work equally well in all regions and that efforts to adapt communities to wildfires must be regionally tailored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia M Alexandre
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA.
| | - Susan I Stewart
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Nicholas S Keuler
- Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Murray K Clayton
- Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Miranda H Mockrin
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 2253 Research Park Boulevard, Suite 350, Baltimore, Maryland, 21228, USA
| | - Avi Bar-Massada
- Department of Biology and Environment, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Alexandra D Syphard
- Conservation Biology Institute, 10423 Sierra Vista Avenue, La Mesa, California, 91941, USA
| | - Volker C Radeloff
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
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Abstract
Ground-level ozone is adverse to human and vegetation health. High ground-level ozone concentrations usually occur over the United States in the summer, often referred to as the ozone season. However, observed monthly mean ozone concentrations in the southeastern United States were higher in October than July in 2010. The October ozone average in 2010 reached that of July in the past three decades (1980-2010). Our analysis shows that this extreme October ozone in 2010 over the Southeast is due in part to a dry and warm weather condition, which enhances photochemical production, air stagnation, and fire emissions. Observational evidence and modeling analysis also indicate that another significant contributor is enhanced emissions of biogenic isoprene, a major ozone precursor, from water-stressed plants under a dry and warm condition. The latter finding is corroborated by recent laboratory and field studies. This climate-induced biogenic control also explains the puzzling fact that the two extremes of high October ozone both occurred in the 2000s when anthropogenic emissions were lower than the 1980s and 1990s, in contrast to the observed decreasing trend of July ozone in the region. The occurrences of a drying and warming fall, projected by climate models, will likely lead to more active photochemistry, enhanced biogenic isoprene and fire emissions, an extension of the ozone season from summer to fall, and an increase of secondary organic aerosols in the Southeast, posing challenges to regional air quality management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuzhong Zhang
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332
| | - Yuhang Wang
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332
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