The world is burning. Wildfires have in the past few years ravaged large areas in Australia, the Americas, and Europe, as well as in other parts of the world. While climate change is one reason for the increased fire risk, human activities also directly impact fire risk and constitute causes of ignition. Furthermore, wildfires have cross-sector impacts and influence societies and ecosystems in many different ways, for example through land degradation, health effects and economic impacts.
As wildfires across the globe become more and more apparent in the news, researchers recognize the understanding of wildfires and their links to human activities as a pressing issue of interdisciplinary nature and complexity. In this Advanced Study Group, Lina and Pinar will bring together researchers from five different faculties at Lund University to openly discuss issues relating to wildfires, guided by the following research question:
What characterizes wildfires in the Anthropocene epoch?
From January 2022 a group of researchers will meet every month to discuss literature, hold seminars with invited speakers, and plan for future research proposals.
(Photo by Ross Stone on Unsplash)