The Assistant Research Professor collaborated with colleagues from around the world on a white paper that highlights the fire research community's responsibility for the understanding and management of wildland fires.

Fire is a natural part of life on Earth, essential for maintaining healthy and balanced ecosystems. However, human activities and climate change are rapidly altering the frequency and severity of wildfires, posing new risks to both human and environmental health. 

Scientists from 14 countries, GEOG Assistant Research Professor Joanne Hall among them, recently gathered to discuss key fire issues and develop strategies to mitigate their impacts. 

Those scientists, part of the FLARE (Fire Science Learning AcRoss the Earth System) working group, narrowed the challenges facing fire scientists down to three, and they are now sharing those three conclusions in a newly published white paper that aims to improve fire modeling, predictability, and mitigation on both regional and global scales.

“If we want to improve the assessment of future fire impacts on people and the planet, we need to start with a better understanding of how climate, land cover changes, and human land management practices drive fire distribution and severity in the coming decades,” said Douglas Hamilton, assistant professor of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Science at North Carolina State University and the lead researcher of the FLARE working group.

The three key challenges the FLARE researchers identified are: 

• Understanding the Role of Fire in the Carbon Cycle: Investigating how fire impacts carbon release, ecological recovery, climate change, ocean biology, and ice melt to comprehend the Earth's carbon balance.
• Fire and Extreme Events: Developing tools for rapid response to extreme fire events, providing timely and robust answers to critical questions, and delivering annual reports on key policy and media issues.
• The Role of Humans in Fire: Exploring the effects of fires on marginalized and underrepresented communities, with a focus on Indigenous populations and environmental justice.

“Fires have a complex role in our ecosystems; while they are becoming more intense, they are not all bad. Fires can help renew habitats and maintain biodiversity. However, with their increasing intensity, we need proactive fire science and collaborative research to better understand and balance their impacts on humans and the environment,” said Hall.

The white paper also outlines three calls to action: to increase funding for proactive fire science approaches relevant to society; expand fire science education and training to recruit new scientists; and foster collaboration across disciplines to enhance understanding and communication of fire science.

About FLARE

The Fire science Learning AcRoss the Earth System (FLARE) Working Group was launched after a Future Earth COP27 side event on fire. The group aims to advance fire science through a transdisciplinary approach. By bringing together diverse expertise, FLARE seeks to promote integrated research addressing the complex and interconnected challenges posed by fire in the Earth System.

White Paper Citation

Hamilton, D. S., et al., (2024). Igniting Progress: Outcomes from the FLARE workshop and three challenges for the future of transdisciplinary fire science. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12634068

Acknowledgements

FLARE received funding from ESA and Future Earth via their Joint Program (futureearth.org/initiatives/funding-initiatives/esa-partnership), PAGES, North Carolina State University, and BIOS (bios.asu.edu)