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COVID-19 lockdowns drive decline in active fires in southeastern United States [Sustainability Science]
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ( IF 11.1 ) Pub Date : 2021-10-26 , DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2105666118
Benjamin Poulter 1 , Patrick H Freeborn 2 , W Matt Jolly 2 , J Morgan Varner 3
Affiliation  

Fire is a common ecosystem process in forests and grasslands worldwide. Increasingly, ignitions are controlled by human activities either through suppression of wildfires or intentional ignition of prescribed fires. The southeastern United States leads the nation in prescribed fire, burning ca. 80% of the country’s extent annually. The COVID-19 pandemic radically changed human behavior as workplaces implemented social-distancing guidelines and provided an opportunity to evaluate relationships between humans and fire as fire management plans were postponed or cancelled. Using active fire data from satellite-based observations, we found that in the southeastern United States, COVID-19 led to a 21% reduction in fire activity compared to the 2003 to 2019 average. The reduction was more pronounced for federally managed lands, up to 41% below average compared to the past 20 y (38% below average compared to the past decade). Declines in fire activity were partly affected by an unusually wet February before the COVID-19 shutdown began in mid-March 2020. Despite the wet spring, the predicted number of active fire detections was still lower than expected, confirming a COVID-19 signal on ignitions. In addition, prescribed fire management statistics reported by US federal agencies confirmed the satellite observations and showed that, following the wet February and before the mid-March COVID-19 shutdown, cumulative burned area was approaching record highs across the region. With fire return intervals in the southeastern United States as frequent as 1 to 2 y, COVID-19 fire impacts will contribute to an increasing backlog in necessary fire management activities, affecting biodiversity and future fire danger.



中文翻译:

COVID-19 封锁导致美国东南部活跃火灾减少 [可持续发展科学]

火灾是全球森林和草原常见的生态系统过程。人类活动越来越多地通过抑制野火或故意点燃规定的火灾来控制点火。美国东南部在规定的火灾中领先全国,燃烧约。每年占全国面积的 80%。COVID-19 大流行从根本上改变了人类行为,因为工作场所实施了社会疏远准则,并在火灾管理计划被推迟或取消时提供了评估人与火灾之间关系的机会。使用来自卫星观测的活跃火灾数据,我们发现在美国东南部,与 2003 年至 2019 年的平均水平相比,COVID-19 导致火灾活动减少了 21%。联邦管理的土地减少更为明显,与过去 20 年相比,最多低于平均水平 41%​​(与过去十年相比低于平均水平 38%)。在 2020 年 3 月中旬开始关闭 COVID-19 之前,火灾活动的下降部分受到了异常潮湿的 2 月的影响。尽管春季潮湿,但预测的活跃火灾探测数量仍低于预期,证实了 COVID-19 信号点火。此外,美国联邦机构报告的规定火灾管理统计数据证实了卫星观测结果,并表明,在 2 月潮湿之后和 3 月中旬 COVID-19 关闭之前,该地区的累计燃烧面积接近历史新高。由于美国东南部的火灾重现间隔为 1 到 2 年,因此 COVID-19 火灾影响将导致必要的火灾管理活动积压越来越多,

更新日期:2021-10-19
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