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Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives

Authors :
Nieves Fernandez-Anez
Andrey Krasovskiy
Mortimer Müller
Harald Vacik
Jan Baetens
Emira Hukić
Marijana Kapovic Solomun
Irena Atanassova
Maria Glushkova
Igor Bogunović
Hana Fajković
Hakan Djuma
George Boustras
Martin Adámek
Miloslav Devetter
Michaela Hrabalikova
Dalibor Huska
Petra Martínez Barroso
Magdalena Daria Vaverková
David Zumr
Kalev Jõgiste
Marek Metslaid
Kajar Koster
Egle Köster
Jukka Pumpanen
Caius Ribeiro-Kumara
Simone Di Prima
Amandine Pastor
Cornelia Rumpel
Manuel Seeger
Ioannis Daliakopoulos
Evangelia Daskalakou
Aristeidis Koutroulis
Maria P. Papadopoulou
Kosmas Stampoulidis
Gavriil Xanthopoulos
Réka Aszalós
Deák Balázs
Miklós Kertész
Orsolya Valkó
David C. Finger
Throstur Thorsteinsson
Jessica Till
Sofia Bajocco
Antonio Gelsomino
Antonio Minervino Amodio
Agata Novara
Luca Salvati
Luciano Telesca
Nadia Ursino
Aris Jansons
Mara Kitenberga
Normunds Stivrins
Gediminas Brazaitis
Vitas Marozas
Olesea Cojocaru
Iachim Gumeniuc
Victor Sfecla
Anton Imeson
Sander Veraverbeke
Ragni Fjellgaard Mikalsen
Eugeniusz Koda
Piotr Osinski
Ana C. Meira Castro
João Pedro Nunes
Duarte Oom
Diana Vieira
Teodor Rusu
Srđan Bojović
Dragana Djordjevic
Zorica Popovic
Milan Protic
Sanja Sakan
Jan Glasa
Danica Kacikova
Lubomir Lichner
Andrea Majlingova
Jaroslav Vido
Mateja Ferk
Jure Tičar
Matija Zorn
Vesna Zupanc
M. Belén Hinojosa
Heike Knicker
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja
Juli Pausas
Nuria Prat-Guitart
Xavier Ubeda
Lara Vilar
Georgia Destouni
Navid Ghajarnia
Zahra Kalantari
Samaneh Seifollahi-Aghmiuni
Turgay Dindaroglu
Tugrul Yakupoglu
Thomas Smith
Stefan Doerr
Artemi Cerda
Source :
Air, Soil and Water Research, Vol 14 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
SAGE Publishing, 2021.

Abstract

Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009–2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we present a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action “Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society” funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wildland fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence.

Subjects

Subjects :
Environmental sciences
GE1-350

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
11786221
Volume :
14
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Air, Soil and Water Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.2dabc99510954ccba57f2317ffe81553
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/11786221211028185