Act now on wildfires, global climate change, human health, study says

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/mu-ano100920.php

News Release 13-Oct-2020
Monash University

Immediate actions are needed to limit the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change that helps fuel wildfires, a Monash University study says.

A special report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, led by Professor Yuming Guo and Dr Shanshan Li from the Monash School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, summarises the enormous impacts of climate change on wildfire seasons and the sequential increased morbidity, mortality, and mental health impacts.

The report, which analysed numerous studies on wildfires over the past 20 years, says global climate change is fueling the three essential conditions for wildfires - fuel, oxygen and an ignition source. The world is seeing inconsistent rainfall, increased drought and hotter temperatures, leading to more flammable vegetation.

It says the global mean carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires accounted for about 22 per cent of the carbon emission from burning fossil fuels between 1997-2016. The inconsistent approach to global forest management and the conversion of tropical savannas to agricultural lands is damaging the world's ability to absorb CO2 and cool the climate.

The report says projections suggest that if high greenhouse gas emissions continue, wildfire exposure could substantially increase to over 74 per cent of the global land mass by the end of the century.

However, if immediate climate mitigation efforts are taken to limit the global mean temperature increase to 2.0?C or 1.5?C, a corresponding 60 per cent and 80 per cent, respective increase in wildfire exposure could be avoided, the report says.


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tags: extreme weather, severe weather,