Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

Forest fires are a natural process in many ecosystems. Each has a regime characteristic fire, that is, a level of frequency, size, intensity and certain seasonality and is considered natural and necessary for maintaining the sustainability and biodiversity species. The problem of forest fires arises when the balance between what is considered “natural” and sustainable breaks. Today, it seems that there is no doubt that we are immersed in a period of climate change characterized by global warming, which suggests that the current regime of forest fires is also likely to change due to, among other things, the close relationship established between climate and forest fires. The rainfall is also changing, a decrease is observed in water availability and increasing drought periods, so this change will not compensate for the temperature increase and enhance the flammability of forest areas. Have identified a number of factors related to global change and are linked with the change of regime forest fires, such as changes in the density and distribution of human population (involved in increasing the number of ignitions), the rural abandonment, deforestation and fragmentation of the landscape, changes in the management of the mountain, the increase of invasive species and increased carbon dioxide in plants and ecosystems (involved in increasing the quantity and continuity, i.e., availability, made out of fuel). Thus, changes in climate, alone, are not sufficient to bring about extreme changes in fire regime in the short or medium term, but the increase is needed and continuity of fuel (biomass) in a given space. Trying to predict long-term changes in fire regimes is very difficult and imprecise, since it will depend on the interactions between influencing factors and their relationship over time, true modelers fires and shapers of the landscape.

Biography

Jaime Senabre (1966). Psychologist (UNED). He has extensive postgraduate training, achieving a total of five Masters, including: Master in Occupational Health, Safety and Workplace Risk by Camilo José Cela University of Madrid; Master of Psychopathology and Health, UNED; Master of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, University of Valencia. He is also a Diploma in Psychological Intervention in Emergencies and Disasters, Environmental Consultant, Expert in Human Resources and Criminology. He is the Director and Chairman of the Scientific-Professional Committee of the National Symposium on Forest Fires -SINIF (2008-2015) and creator of “SINIF Awards”, for Innovation and Technological Research, Prevention and Management Development on Forest Fires Member of: Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress, Spanish Association for Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology.

Email: jasenabre@sinif.es