Climate change to lead to more city fires: Researchers

Sydney: As global temperatures climb due to climate change, cities are expected to face a growing risk of fires, according to Australian and international researchers on Tuesday.

A new modelling study, published in Nature Cities, predicts that certain types of urban fires will become more frequent in the coming decades.

Researchers estimate that, worldwide, this trend could result in an additional 330,000 fire-related deaths and over a million more injuries between 2020 and 2100. However, if global warming is limited to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the number of deaths could be reduced by half.

To establish this connection, the international research team analysed fires and peak monthly air temperatures across more than 2,800 cities in 20 countries, including the United States, China, Australia, and Britain, representing over 20 per cent of the global population. The findings could be useful for future urban planning and emergency response strategies.

The researchers measured how the frequency of different urban fire incidents — such as building fires, vehicle fires, and outdoor blazes at sites like landfills — changes in response to rising temperatures, which aimed to evaluate the potential impact of global warming on various types of urban fires.

There could be an 11.6 per cent increase in vehicle fires and a 22.2 per cent increase in outdoor fires by 2100, but a 4.6 per cent decrease in building fires, under a high greenhouse gas emission scenario, said the authors from the University of Science and Technology of China, the RMIT University in Melbourne, Shanghai Maritime University, Charles Darwin University, among others.

They also estimate that global warming could contribute to approximately 335,000 fire-related deaths and 1.1 million injuries across all cities analysed between 2020 and 2100, Xinhua news agency reported.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions.

IANS