Cited by 680Fire effects on ecosystemsClimate variability and modelsHydrology and Drought Analysis

Global Emergence of Anthropogenic Climate Change in Fire Weather Indices

Abatzoglou, John T., Williams, A. Park, Barbero, Renaud·2019·Geophysical Research Letters

Abstract

Changes in global fire activity are influenced by a multitude of factors including land‐cover change, policies, and climatic conditions. This study uses 17 climate models to evaluate when changes in fire weather, as realized through the Fire Weather Index, emerge from the expected range of internal variability due to anthropogenic climate change using the time of emergence framework. Anthropogenic increases in extreme Fire Weather Index days emerge for 22% of burnable land area globally by 2019, including much of the Mediterranean and the Amazon. By the midtwenty‐first century, emergence among the different Fire Weather Index metrics occurs for 33–62% of burnable lands. Emergence of heightened fire weather becomes more widespread as a function of global temperature change. At 2 °C above preindustrial levels, the area of emergence is half that for 3 °C. These results highlight increases in fire weather conditions with human‐caused climate change and incentivize local adaptation efforts to limit detrimental fire impacts.

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Crossref · 10.1029/2018gl080959

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  • Globally, anthropogenic climate change has emerged as a significant driver of increased fire danger, independent of natural climate variability.

    “Globally, anthropogenic climate change has emerged as a significant driver of increased fire danger, independent of natural climate variability (Abatzoglou, Williams, & Barbero, 2019).”

    From Fire as a fundamental ecological process: Research advances and frontiers (2020) · cites this paper as Abatzoglou, Williams, & Barbero, 2019

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Authors
Abatzoglou, J. T., Williams, A. P., & Barbero, R.
Affiliations
  • University of Idaho (US)
  • Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University New York NY USA
  • Institut National de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies pour l'Environnement et l'Agriculture (FR)
Corresponding author
Abatzoglou, John T.
Venue
Geophysical Research Letters
Published
2019-01-08
Volume
46
Issue
1
Pages
326-336
ISSN
  • 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
  • 1944-8007
OpenAlex
W2902663386
Cited by
680
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 101 · 2025: 117 · 2024: 118 · 2023: 115 · 2022: 115 · 2021: 74 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 5
FWCI
16.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (DMS‐1520873)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Hydrology and Drought Analysis
Keywords
fire weather, fire weather index, emergence timing, anthropogenic climate change, climate model projections, global temperature change, Amazon fires, fire adaptation

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