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

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

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

THE 3D MODEL OF STRESS IN WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS. (Senabre, J.)

MODELO 3D DE ESTRÉS EN BOMBEROS FORESTALES
Jaime Senabre. Psicólogo.

http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/sevilla-2007/contributions/doc/cd/SESIONES_TEMATICAS/ST6/Senabre2_SPAIN_Alicante.pdf

• Actas de la IV Conferencia Internacional sobre Incendios Forestales, Sevilla (España), 13-18 de mayo de 2007. ISBN: 978-84-8014-690-6
• Resúmenes de las Comunicaciones de la IV Conferencia Internacional sobre Incendios Forestales, Sevilla (España), 13-18 de mayo de 2007. ISBN: 978-84-8014-691-3
  

Resumen:
El Modelo Tridimensional de Estrés pretende explicar de manera global el riesgo que tiene el profesional de emergencias de manifestar síntomas de estrés (Senabre, J., 2004). Utilizando como ejemplo los servicios de bomberos, se ofrece un enfoque práctico del concepto de estrés y de sus fuentes en este tipo de profesionales. Los incendios forestales servirán de marco explicativo de este modelo, ya que suponen una situación potencialmente estresante para los efectivos intervinientes en los mismos, destacando prioritariamente a los bomberos que actúan en primera línea de fuego, los pilotos de los medios aéreos, los conductores de vehículos pesados, los operadores de radio y los mandos de coordinación del incendio. La intervención en la emergencia, las características del propio servicio o la organización del mismo, y los factores de personalidad idiosincráticos de cada bombero, conforman los tres pilares que sustentan este enfoque.

Palabras clave: Estrés, Modelo Tridimensional de Estrés, Bomberos, Incendios Forestales

Abstract:
The Three-Dimensional Model of Stress try to explain of global way the risk that the emergency workers have to manifest stress symptoms (Senabre, J., 2004).Taking for example the Fire Department, propose it a practical approach of the stress concept and its sources on that kind of professionals. The forest fires will be use to explain this model, since they suppose it a potential stress situation for workers to fight on them, marking priority the firemen to be working on a first line of fire, the pilots plains, fire engine drivers, the radio operators and the fire coordination commands. The operations on emergency, the characteristic of the own service or its organization, and the idiosyncratic personality factors of each fire-fighter, make up the three pillars that maintain this approach.

Key words: Stress, Three-Dimensional Model of Stress, Firemen, Forest Fires