Climate Change Amplifications of Climate-Fire Teleconnections in the Southern Hemisphere

Mariani, Michela; Holz, Andr�s; Veblen, Thomas T.; Williamson, Grant; Fletcher, Michael-Shawn; Bowman, David M. J. S.

Abstract

©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Recent changes in trend and variability of the main Southern Hemisphere climate modes are driven by a variety of factors, including increasing atmospheric greenhouse gases, changes in tropical sea surface temperature, and stratospheric ozone depletion and recovery. One of the most important implications for climatic change is its effect via climate teleconnections on natural ecosystems, water security, and fire variability in proximity to populated areas, thus threatening human lives and properties. Only sparse and fragmentary knowledge of relationships between teleconnections, lightning strikes, and fire is available during the observed record within the Southern Hemisphere. This constitutes a major knowledge gap for undertaking suitable management and conservation plans. Our analysis of documentary fire records from Mediterranean and temperate regions across the Southern Hemisphere reveals a critical increased strength of climate-fire teleconnections during the onset of the 21st century including a tight coupling between lightning-ignited fire occurrences, the upward trend in the Southern Annular Mode, and rising temperatures across the Southern Hemisphere.

Citation

Mariani, M., Holz, A., Veblen, T. T., Williamson, G., Fletcher, M.-S., & Bowman, D. M. J. S. (2018). Climate Change Amplifications of Climate-Fire Teleconnections in the Southern Hemisphere. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(10), 5071-5081. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078294

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 8, 2018
• Online Publication Date: May 15, 2018
• Publication Date: May 28, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 1, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 18, 2019
• Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
• Print ISSN: 0094-8276
• Electronic ISSN: 1944-8007
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 5071-5081
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078294
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2248929
• Publisher URL: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018GL078294
• Contract Date: Jul 1, 2019