Climate change may alter wildfire patterns

BERKELEY, Calif., April 9 (UPI) -- A University of California-Berkeley and Texas Tech University study suggests climate change will result in major shifts of worldwide fire patterns.

In research, called the first of its kind, scientists used European Space Agency thermal-infrared satellite sensor data in their global study of pyrogeography -- the distribution and behavior of wildfire.

"This is the first attempt to quantitatively model why we see fire where we see it across the entire planet," said study author Max Moritz, co-director of the Cal-Berkeley's Center for Fire Research and Outreach. "What is startling in these findings is the relatively rapid rate at which we're likely to see very broad-scale changes in fire activity for large parts of the planet."

The researchers said their preliminary results show hot spots of fire invasion forming in parts of the western United States and the Tibetan plateau, while other regions including northeast China and central Africa might become less fire-prone.

The researchers said their findings are a first step towards creating a comprehensive picture of how climate change will alter fire risk around the world if drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions don't occur.

The study is available in the online journal PLoS One.