Extreme conditions including 40C heat seen in 2022 led to all fuel sources in heathlands to dry leading to significant increase in threat of wildfire incidents.
Extreme conditions including 40C heat seen in 2022 led to all fuel sources in heathlands to dry leading to significant increase in threat of wildfire incidents.
Heatwaves in the UK have led to unseasonable drying of vegetation bypassing natural ecological processes that limit the spread of wildfires, a new study has found.
In a paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, a team of researchers led by the University of Birmingham have been studying moisture levels in plant life and carbon-rich soil around the UK to understand variations that affect the risk of wildfire. Alongside their three-year sampling period, the first long term survey of vegetation and soils that acts as fuel in wildfires collected across the UK, the team collected samples during the 2022 heatwave that resulted in an unprecedented number of wildfires, with a 500% increase in 999 calls and 14 major incidents declared.
The team found that samples taken during the 2022 heatwave were unlike anything collected during the previous three years.
Read More: University of Birmingham
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