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Impacts of Climate Change on Forest Fires

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Annual Report on Actions to Address Climate Change (2019)
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Abstract

In recent years, with global temperature rise, extreme weather and climate events, especially high temperature and droughts, occur more frequently, and as a result, forest fires too. Studies show that, climate warming increases the amount of flammable materials in forests, prolongs the fire season, and raises the frequency of lightning fires and wildfires. The climate in China’s main forest areas has become notably warmer and drier. Forest fire potential increases considerably in recent years too. Yet, the number of fires and the total burned area in the past decade have declined, thanks to the strict and full implementation of the forest fire prevention and management strategies and the philosophy of forest protection and green development in China. According to the simulations, climate warming will continue both in China and in the world, leading to more frequent occurrence of dry thunderstorms, increased number of days with forest fire alert, higher fire risks, and greater challenges in forest fire prevention. Therefore, we must strengthen studies on the impacts of climate change on forest fires, improve the monitoring, prediction and alert system for forest fires, and raise public awareness and knowledge of forest fire prevention.

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Notes

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    The northeast forest area covers the northeast of Inner Mongolia, and the west of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning Provinces.

  10. 10.

    The southwest forest area covers the entire Yunnan Province, most of Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing, and the southeast of Tibet.

  11. 11.

    If the forest fire danger rating is level III or above, the forest fire risk or the potential for forest fire events is considered high.

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Correspondence to Wanxiu Ai .

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Ai, W., Wu, Y., Wang, C., Liang, L. (2023). Impacts of Climate Change on Forest Fires. In: Zhuang, G., Chao, Q., Hu, G., Pan, J. (eds) Annual Report on Actions to Address Climate Change (2019). Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7738-1_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7738-1_13

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