Significant Association Between Arctic Oscillation and Winter Wildfires in Southern China
Abstract The recent increase of regional wildfire occurrences has been associated with climate change. In this study, we investigated the association between the February to March wildfire points and burned area in the southern region of China (20°N–30°N and 105°E–115°E) and the simultaneous Arctic...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2024-10-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Disaster Risk Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-024-00589-z |
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| Summary: | Abstract The recent increase of regional wildfire occurrences has been associated with climate change. In this study, we investigated the association between the February to March wildfire points and burned area in the southern region of China (20°N–30°N and 105°E–115°E) and the simultaneous Arctic Oscillation (AO) index during 2001–2022 and 2001–2020, respectively. After removing the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Indian Ocean Dipole signals, time series of the regional mean fire points and burned area over the study area is significantly correlated with the AO index at − 0.37 and − 0.47, significant at the 0.1 level. Precipitation significantly affects wildfire variations. The positive AO could trigger a southeastward Rossby wave train and induce anomalous cyclone activity approximately located in the area encompassed by 15°N–27°N and 85°E–100°E. This outcome could help to enhance the southern branch trough and results in positive precipitation anomalies in southern China. This increasing moisture is conductive to reducing wildfire risks, vice versa. Our results are potentially useful for strengthening the understanding of the mechanisms of wildfire occurrences in southern China. |
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| ISSN: | 2095-0055 2192-6395 |