Rapidly rising temperatures in South Africa pose more risk of wildfires

Rapidly rising temperatures in South Africa pose more risk of wildfires

30 June 2017

South Africa – The latest scientific data from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) shows that temperatures in Southern Africa are rising much faster than the global rate. According to Professor Francois Engelbrecht, principal researcher at the CSIR, this phenomenon has made the region more vulnerable to extreme events such as wildfires. He explains the science behind the phenomenon. In winter time we get these very high pressure systems that form over the Southern African region and as a result of climate change those high pressure systems are becoming stronger. They have two main effects, they are gradually shifting the cold fronts toward the pole, which means that we can expect our winter rainfall region will likely become drier.

He says that over the last 50 years we have seen systematic increase in temperature across the entire Southern African region. Over the interior parts of the region this increase has been taking place in the order of two degrees Celsius per century. It means in general there are more days that are posing a significant risk for the outbreak of wildfires. The general increase in temperature is most certainly directly attributable to global warming which in turn is caused by us as humans because we are emitting so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, he says.

Although these specific fires cannot be directly attributed to climate change we are moving into a new climate system where we are becoming prone to the outbreak of fires.

The forest fire, which started on the night of June 24 and still smoldering in Spain’s southwestern region of Huelva, burned a total of 8,486 hectares, the Andalusian Regional Government said on Wednesday. Environmental spokesman for Andalusia, Jose Fiscal, confirmed the damage on his Twitter account. Over 2,000 people had had to be evacuated from hotels and campsites on the perimeter of the fire, he said. He added that the perimeter established around the fire was actually 10,900 hectares, but within that perimeter, 2,414 hectares of woodland were still intact. The fire damaged two protected areas: 6,761 hectares of Donana National Park, which has UNESCO protected status and is home to around 400 different species such as the threatened Iberian Lynx and Iberian Eagle, and 17 hectares of Laguna de Palos y Madres Nature Park. The Andalusian government believed that had it not been for the work of fire fighters, who at the height of the blaze numbered around 500, the damage would have been far worse for the 43,225 hectares of woods and scrubland. According to the regional government, temperatures were around 40 degrees Celsius when the fire began, with a wind-speed of between 30 and 40 km per hour (km/h) and gusts of up to 90 km/h at night, which helped propagate the flames and made it impossible to use aircraft or helicopters to fight the fire. A total of 50 firemen remain in the zone to continue the work of damping down and to ensure there are no flare ups, while investigations continue into the cause of the blaze. Authorities have not ruled out a human cause.
Read full text at: http://eng.belta.by/society/view/spanish-forest-fire-burns-over-8400-hectares-in-and-around-national-park-102857-2017/
If you use BelTAs materials, you must credit us with a hyperlink to eng.belta.by.Tropical peat swamp forests, which once occupied large swaths of Southeast Asia and other areas, provided a significant “sink” that helped remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But such forests have been disappearing fast due to clear-cutting and drainage projects making way for plantations. Now, research shows peatlands face another threat, as climate change alters rainfall patterns, potentially destroying even forested peatlands that remain undrained.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-06-peatlands-dwindling-losses.html#jCpTropical peat swamp forests, which once occupied large swaths of Southeast Asia and other areas, provided a significant “sink” that helped remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But such forests have been disappearing fast due to clear-cutting and drainage projects making way for plantations. Now, research shows peatlands face another threat, as climate change alters rainfall patterns, potentially destroying even forested peatlands that remain undrained.

30. June 2017/by GFMCadmin