TY - JOUR
T1 - Extreme fire weather in Chile driven by climate change and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
AU - Cordero, Raúl R.
AU - Feron, Sarah
AU - Damiani, Alessandro
AU - Carrasco, Jorge
AU - Karas, Cyrus
AU - Wang, Chenghao
AU - Kraamwinkel, Clarisse T.
AU - Beaulieu, Anne
N1 - © 2024. The Author(s).
PY - 2024/1/23
Y1 - 2024/1/23
N2 - A string of fierce fires broke out in Chile in the austral summer 2023, just six years after the record-breaking 2017 fire season. Favored by extreme weather conditions, fire activity has dramatically risen in recent years in this Andean country. A total of 1.7 million ha. burned during the last decade, tripling figures of the prior decade. Six of the seven most destructive fire seasons on record occurred since 2014. Here, we analyze the progression during the last two decades of the weather conditions associated with increased fire risk in Central Chile (30°-39° S). Fire weather conditions (including high temperatures, low humidity, dryness, and strong winds) increase the potential for wildfires, once ignited, to rapidly spread. We show that the concurrence of El Niño and climate-fueled droughts and heatwaves boost the local fire risk and have decisively contributed to the intense fire activity recently seen in Central Chile. Our results also suggest that the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean variability modulates the seasonal fire weather in the country, driving in turn the interannual fire activity. The signature of the warm anomalies in the Niño 1 + 2 region (0°-10° S, 90° W-80° W) is apparent on the burned area records seen in Central Chile in 2017 and 2023.
AB - A string of fierce fires broke out in Chile in the austral summer 2023, just six years after the record-breaking 2017 fire season. Favored by extreme weather conditions, fire activity has dramatically risen in recent years in this Andean country. A total of 1.7 million ha. burned during the last decade, tripling figures of the prior decade. Six of the seven most destructive fire seasons on record occurred since 2014. Here, we analyze the progression during the last two decades of the weather conditions associated with increased fire risk in Central Chile (30°-39° S). Fire weather conditions (including high temperatures, low humidity, dryness, and strong winds) increase the potential for wildfires, once ignited, to rapidly spread. We show that the concurrence of El Niño and climate-fueled droughts and heatwaves boost the local fire risk and have decisively contributed to the intense fire activity recently seen in Central Chile. Our results also suggest that the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean variability modulates the seasonal fire weather in the country, driving in turn the interannual fire activity. The signature of the warm anomalies in the Niño 1 + 2 region (0°-10° S, 90° W-80° W) is apparent on the burned area records seen in Central Chile in 2017 and 2023.
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-024-52481-x
DO - 10.1038/s41598-024-52481-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 38263390
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 14
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 1974
ER -