Climate, fuel, planning (urban planning) and social behavior: Potentials forest fire risk.

Jaime Senabre. 

Director SINIF. Psychologist and Environmental Consultant.

Reseacher Group 0n "Climate and Terrotorial Planning". University of Alicante. 

Abstract:

Paradoxically, everything indicates that the cost of suppressing forest fires is increasing and that it´s associated with greater investment and efficiency in emergency services. In general terms, three main causes can explain this upward trend: fuel accumulation (associated with the suppression of past forest fires), urban development in areas prone to fire episodes and the current trend of climate change. Although it´s hopeless, but it seems that the human being has little capacity to stop the effects of the climate on the risk of forest fire. The opposite is an anthropocentric illusion. On the other hand, it´s hard to think of a Public Administration that can allocate economic budgets for the management and control of fuel that are in tune with the rate of accumulation of these. Science fiction would be to imagine that such accumulation could be reversed. Given this scenario of initial disabilities, the focus of hope on society can be put. The humans have a preponderant role in the number of ignitions (negligent or intentional) in Spain, so it will be of great importance to try to modify the behavior of the owners, current and future, with respect to the potential risk of forest fire and, very especially, in those cases where there are human settlements in areas prone to register emergencies due to forest fire, such as urban forest interface areas (IUF). After experiencing a large forest fire, there are changes in the perception of risk and in the general attitude towards forest fires in the owners of homes in the affected area. Therefore, we infer that only from the understanding of the potential fire risk, the owners will be in the best conditions to undertake actions aimed at reducing the risk. Environmental education about forest fires can motivate homeowners to undertake prevention and self-protection actions to reduce risk and possible damage to property and people. At the society level, perhaps one of the best ways to combat the drama of forest fires is to create more fireresistant containment and defense structures, mainly in the most critical risk areas such as those of IUF. In this study, supported by numerous works carried out in the US Forest Service and in other recent investigations by the author in Spain, we carried out an analysis of some aspects that we consider essential in the risk of forest fire, due to its ability to enhance and modulate the evolution of fire.

Citation: Senabre, J. (2019). Climate, fuel, planning and social behavior: Potentials forest. In Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences (J Earth Environ Sci) 2019, Volume 3, pp 63. DOI: 10.29011/2577-0640-C1-006

Conference Proceedingss - 2nd International Conference on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change (November 28-29, 2019 | Rome, Italy)

The mitigation of the effects of climate change and global warming through the prevention and early extinction of forest fires.

Jaime Senabre

Director of SINIF.
University of Alicante, Spain.

Abstract: 

 

The Planet is immersed in an ecological crisis. To a large extent, human behavior has been aggravating the deterioration of the environment. Fire is a natural ecological factor that acts as a regulating agent of vegetation and landscape shaper. However, forest fires have gone from being a tool for survival to becoming an environmental problem that doesn ́t understand borders and that affects all the components of the environment (atmosphere, vegetation, fauna, soil and water) and that requires an integral approach, both locally and globally. The forest is a source of wealth that must be protected, conserved, revalued and improved productivity. Forest fires are a source of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere that are dangerous and pose a significant threat, since they can degrade the air that is breathed at unhealthy levels, mainly in geographic areas near the site of the forest fire, but also in others distant, since these pollutants, invisible to the human eye, can travel thousands of kilometers driven by the wind. In this paper, we emphasize the importance of pollutant emissions from forest fires, since these may be influencing global warming and climate change. Likewise, we propose a series of basic actions that serve as a starting point to establish an Integral Plan for the Prevention of Forest Fires and that include: the early extinction of the fire (to reduce to the maximum the burnt surface and the polluting emissions), management of the forest (including: preventive forestry, limited use of fire, promotion of grazing, regularization of activities and productivity of forest resources), mosaic landscape design (which seeks the fragmentation of the territory), urban planning (which minimizes the risks in the forest urban interface), greater professionalization and coordination of emergency services (especially forest firefighters), the promotion of self-protection (individual and collective) and, finally, education (to increase environmental awareness and proactive behavior). In short, we are aware that fire has an ecological role and that its suppression is impossible, but we must focus on those actions that contribute least to the global deterioration of the Planet.

Citation: Senabre, J. (2019). The mitigation of the effects of climate change and global warming through the prevention and early extinction of forest fires. Journal of Expert Opnion on Environmental Biology.. ISSN: 2325-9655. Volume 8. 3rd. World Summit on Climate Change and Global Warming. Prague, Czech Republic. Book of abstracts. pp53. DOI: 10.4172/2325-9655-C1-045

Forest fires and soil loss: A threat to biodiversity.

Jaime Senabre.
University of Alicante, Spain.
Director of SINIF.

Abstract:

Society doesn’t seem to be aware of the negative effects that forest fires have on the soil, whose degradation can become irreversible in many cases. The soil is one of the fundamental elements for life on Earth and that isn’t given due attention. In the same way, in the studies on forest fires the action of the natural risks in territories affected by forest fires and the influence of these in the loss of soil are little taken into account. A determining factor of plant productivity is the quality of the soil, a limited resource that is easily destroyed, not only by the incidence of fires, but by the climatic and meteorological conditions to which the area affected by fire can be subjected: Torrential rains, floods, droughts, extreme temperatures, strong winds that can accentuate the loss of nutrients and erosion. According to data obtained from a survey on the perception of risk by natural phenomena carried out with the Spanish population (n=1223), 67.54% of the respondents think that they live in an area threatened by some natural phenomenon and 73.02% indicate that at some moment in his life, some natural disaster has occurred that has damaged the community in which he lives. In this line, another study conducted by our research group provides us with relevant data on the frequency perception of forest fires in Spain (n=1068), where 58.52% of the population declare to suffer the impact of forest fires each year, 5.34% every 10 years or more and 3.46% never. Given these findings on risk perception and based on actual incidence data, it is possible to prepare, not only forest fire risk maps, but also risk maps of natural hazards to relate them, in order to establish the potential risk of loss of soil and the possible threat to biodiversity, based, mainly, on the observed changes in fire and natural disaster regimes.

Citation: Jaime Senabre (2018). Forest fires and soil loss: A threat to biodiversity. In Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography. Volume 8 (pp 43). DOI: 10.4172/2157-7625-C4-041 

Journal Link: 

https://www.omicsonline.org/ArchiveJEE/biodiversity-congress-2018-proceedings-tracks.php 

7^th International Conference on Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management

 July 26-27, 2018 Melbourne, Australia

Social perception of natural hazards in the province of Alicante, Spain: A comparative analysis.

Jaime Senabre. University of Alicante, Spain Abstract  Natural risks are natural processes that can have their function in nature, but when they manifest they have a direct impact on societies and on the environment. Historically, the human being has been subjected to the threat of natural phenomena, such as floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, forest fires, etc. The exposure to risk is always associated with the territory or geographical area inhabited. The risks, far from being reduced, increase in a world of increasing population and colonization of the territory. From environmental psychology, natural hazards are interpreted as stressful experiences that the individual or community must face, looking for the most appropriate strategies for each situation. We propose a comparative analysis between two different samples of the population of the province of Alicante (Spain). The data has been obtained by adapting the same measurement instrument and following a similar procedure, but taken in two different time periods, 2012 (Ramos R, Olcina J Y, Molina S 2014) Y 2017 (Senabre J). The results indicated that the threat perception of natural hazards has increased and that society perceives in a more pessimistic way the evolution of the impact of natural phenomena. The main perceived threats (forest fires, drought, desertification, extreme temperatures and floods) are maintained in both studies, although there have been significant changes in the level of importance that society gives each one of them. The risk of drought is the only threat that doesn’t offer qualitative changes in perception, occupying the second place in both cases, although there are differences at a quantitative level. Likewise, the data indicate that, in recent years, the society has received more information about of this type of risk. The studies on risk perception are a good tool for improving risk management and for the development of environmental policies appropriate to each specific territory.
2nd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Disaster Management  Scientific Abstracts: J Earth Sci Clim Change   DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C2-042
Citation: Senabre, J. (2018). Social perception of natural hazards in the province of Alicante, Spain: A comparative analysis. In J Earth Sci Clim Change 2018, Volume 9, pp20. DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C2-042
pdf: https://www.omicsonline.org/conference-proceedings/2157-7617-C2-042-004.pdf

The air pollution caused by wildland fires and the effects on health.

Jaime Senabre

SINIF, Spain
University of Alicante, Spain

Abstract 

Wildland fires are a source of polluting emissions into the atmosphere whose main origin is anthropogenic, as is amply demonstrated by causality studies and statistics. Air pollution by such disturbance is due to combustion of forest biomass that mainly generates CO2 and H2O, and other inorganic and organic gases, and particles. During fires, and by the action of fire, the ordinary characteristics of both the fuel and the oxidizer are modified, being able to change state and suffering different reactions at the molecular level. The composition and molecular structure of the combustion gases, the concentration or dose received and the exposure time act as modulators of the possible effects on the health of the exposed persons. The harmful substances of a forest fire penetrate the body, mainly through the respiratory tract and the skin. According to recent research, in Spain it is estimated that there are about 17% of the population living less than 5 km from a source that emits carcinogenic substances. There are areas of the country which has been detected excess mortality from leukemia and certain cancers, such as those related to the digestive, respiratory, prostate, breast, ovarian and gallbladder. These findings have been related to cities or municipalities with high industrial activity. There seems to be little doubt about the association of the effects of industrial pollution and the development of certain types of cancer. In our study, we evaluated the relationship between the areas of Spain with the most industrial pollution and the areas with the highest prevalence of wildland fires, in order to determine if forest fires may be contributing: First, to an impoverishment of the quality of the air we breathe; second, an increase in vulnerability and a greater risk to the health of people.

citation: Senabre, J. (2018).  The air pollution caused by wildland fires and the effects on health. In Journal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology, 2018, Volume 8, pp22. DOI: 10.4172/2161-0525-C1-011 

Link pdf:  https://www.omicsonline.org/conference-proceedings/2161-0525-C1-011-006.pdf

Link book: https://www.omicsonline.org/conference-proceedings/environment-health-congress-2018-tracks.digital/files/assets/basic-html/page-1.html#

Link Journal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology (ISSN: 2161-0525) https://www.omicsonline.org/proceedings/the-air-pollution-caused-by-wildland-fires-and-the-effects-on-health-89952.html

Social perception of natural hazards in a region of the Spanish Mediterranean.

Abstract

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Natural disasters are socio-natural phenomena whose effects are not always distributed equally over the population. The risk of disaster arises from the product between threats and vulnerability. The impact of natural risks influences the sustainable development of a society. The way in which the human being relates to nature and the human action, are prone to generate situations of danger. The likelihood of a natural hazard materializing seems to have been assumed. For that reason, the human being lives in constant risk on the Earth, something that is not new. The climate models indicate an increase in climate irregularity in the Mediterranean regions. In general, climate change poses scenarios of greater risk in the face of natural hazards. From environmental psychology, the study of risk perception as a factor for risk analysis is addressed. From this perspective, this study is proposed, with the purpose of knowing some aspects such as: the perception of threat, the risk exposure, the awareness of the damage, the evolution of the risk, the elements of concern, the level of concern, the elements of exposure, the mode of attribution, knowledge of natural risk and, in particular, the knowledge of forest fire risk. The study population is made up of citizens of the Valencia community, a region of Eastern Spain that has a singular climate and topography, which makes it more susceptible to have episodes of droughts, floods, strong winds from the west, heat waves and wild land fires, mainly. It is necessary to know how society perceives risk due to adverse natural phenomena, for this reason, we hope that the results of this study will contribute to the improvement of the risk reduction programs in this region of the Spanish Mediterranean.

World Summit on Climate Change and Global WarmingJune 21-22, 2018 Paris, France

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Jaime Senabre (University of Alicante, Spain)

Expert Opinion on Environmental Biology. ISSN: 2325-9655

Cita: Senabre, J. (2018). Social perception of natural hazards in a region of the Spanish Mediterranean. In Expert Opin Environ Biol 2018 volume: 7, pp 27. DOI: 10.4172/2325-9655-C1-020

https://www.scitechnol.com/proceedings/social-perception-of-natural-hazards-in-a-region-of-the-spanish-mediterranean-6081.html

Wildland fires, climate change and landscape perception in a region of eastern Spain.

3rd GoGreen Summit
23rd-24th, March 2018. Manila, Philippines
"Wildland fires, climate change and landscape perception in a region of eastern Spain"
Jaime Senabre
Researcher of the Group on Climate and Territorial Planning. University of Alicante (Spain).
Director of SINIF.
ISBN: 978-81-932966-1-5

Abstract
Wildland fires are a landscape modeling agent that is closely linked to climatic variations and the structure of vegetation. Although it depends on the species and zones, a burned forest can take in recovering between 50 and 100 years.
Modern societies have undergone recent socio-economic changes with implications for the landscape and the natural or sustainable fire regime. Some regions of southern Europe are particularly hit by recurrent episodes of fires. In Mediterranean areas forest fires reach a larger size and occur under extreme conditions. The Valencian Community is framed within a context of Mediterranean climate favorable to the spread of fire, where it is common for a few fires to affect a high percentage of the areaburned during the year and where human activities have conditioned and modified their capacity of recovery, mainly, due to recurrence.
In Spain, the Great Wildland Fires are those that leave the most trace in an increasingly ambushed landscape. Although they account for 0.18% of total claims, they account for 44% of the area burned each year. In the Valencian Community, this figure rises to 85%.
A forest fire is a disturbing phenomenon that can have a great territorial impact and suppose a dramatic change in the landscape. The visual fragility of the landscape is related to the capacity of visual absorption or ability of the landscape to accommodate modifications that produce variations in its visual character. At the time of determining the spread of fire, the structural configuration of the landscape plays an important role, for this reason in the analysis of risk and vulnerability it´s necessary to take into account the evolution of the characteristic elements of each landscape to managethe risk of an integral way.
In Mediterranean ecosystems, high population density increases ignitions and frequency of fires. The high temperatures, the drought and the west winds are the worst enemy of the forests, especially in the central and southeastern Mediterranean, scope of this study, in which, from a psychosocial approach, we will know some aspects about the way of perceiving the landscape in a region of eastern Spain.
In summary: The future fire regime depends not only on climate, but there are other factors that can be more relevant when modeling fires and landscapes, and, without a doubt, the human being is targeted as the main fire regime modifier throughout the planet.

Forest fires and society in a changing environment.

Forest fires are an environmental problem in which many factors influence, but they also represent a natural process in many ecosystems and an evolutionary opportunity. The ecological problem of forest fires arises when the balance between what is considered “natural” and sustainable is broken. From the Environmental Psychology we propose as a latent risk that can compromise the socio-economic development of future generations. The Iberian Peninsula leads the worst records in Europe. The current fire regime is likely to change due to its relation to the climate, but this does not generate or generate a greater number of these, although it may provide conditions that facilitate more virulent and large fire scenarios. The human being is the main detonator of forest fires. The real “change” has to focus on a necessary change of thought and attitude at all levels.

Cita bibliográfica: Senabre Pastor, Jaime Andrés. “Incendios forestales y sociedad en un entorno cambiante”. En: Cutillas Orgilés, Ernesto (Coord.). Convergencia y transversalidad en humanidades. Actas de las VII Jornadas de Investigación de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Alicante (Alicante, 6 y 7 de abril de 2017). Alicante: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Alicante, 2018. ISBN 978-84-948233-2-9, pp. 337-342
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/74209   FullText: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/74209/1/Convergencia-y-transversalidad-en-humanidades_48.pdf