On 23 and 24 July, Sardinia has been hit by a series of fires that have profoundly affected the island. The reported damages account for approximatively 14 thousand hectares of forest burned: this means that in just two days the fires have caused far more damage than they have done throughout the 2008 season.

This happened in particular climatic conditions which have played an important role in the severity of the fires: on the one hand, the wind plays a decisive role in the spread of fire and in increasing the difficulty of limiting the flames, on the other hand, the heat wave that have been insisting on the region produced favourable conditions leading to the rapid spread of fires, thus increasing its scope and danger.

Is it possible, through the study of climate change, to take action to limit the damages caused by fire?

Although in Mediterranean environments, 90% of the fires are of anthropogenic nature, there is a strong relationship between weather and climatic conditions, number and severity of fires and damage caused. In particular, certain weather conditions (heat waves, intense winds, absence of rainfall) are historically associated with major fires. In this perspective, future scenarios of climate change will inevitably influence the behavior of fires, causing an increase in the number of events and areas interested at a global level.

The FUME project aims to analyze the close interrelationship between climate change, vegetation dynamics, socio-economic conditions and fires’ regimes. The researchers involved in the project will examine how the environmental factors and their changes have influenced fire regimes in the past. From this starting point, the projection of climate change, socio-economic and vegetation scenarios, will allow to further analyze the potential impacts on forest fires. This analysis includes the assessment of economic damages and of future policies. In addition, there are a number of protocols and procedures for the prevention and the tackling of fires and for the active management of areas subject to these events.

FUME (Forest fires under climate, social and economic changes in Europe, the Mediterranean and other fire-affected areas of the world) is an FP7 project, currently under negotiation, involving CMCC and three of its divisione, namely: IAFENT, ANS, and CIP.