Climate Change Increases Risk of Firestorms

08/01/2018 - 12h39

The recent rise in catastrophic wildfires in countries like Greece, Portugal and the state of California is by no means accidental. The combination of climate change and lack of forest management is making many places more vulnerable to this kind of extreme event.

"These unfettered fires, that ecologists call 'firestorms', occur under a rare combination of very low air humidity, high temperature and strong winds. This combination is happening more frequently due to climate change," explained Giselda Durigan, research at the Instituto Florestal de São Paulo (Forestry Institute of São Paulo). She studies the interaction between plants in the cerrado (Brazil's savanna) and fire.

The rise of one degree Celsius in the average global temperature, registered in the late 19th century and caused mainly by human activity and the burning of fossil fuels, is causing a series of changes in global climates.

One of the most important changes is the rise in extreme situations. This means that, depending on local conditions, it's not only hotter, but outlier events are also more likely – for instance, days of extreme heat are now likelier in 80% of the planet's surface.

"This effect is particularly strong in the tropics, but is also very present in regions like the Mediterranean [including countries like Portugal, Spain and Greece], and California," said Noah Diffenbaugh, from Stanford University.

	Keith Pakenham/Reuters
	Great Ocean Road, in Austrália- The rise of one degree Celsius in the average global temperature is causing a series of changes in global climates

Translated by NATASHA MADOV

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