The Future of Wildfires
From carbon sinks to carbon sources
Wildfires are a defining force in shaping our environment. Their frequencies and intensities are rapidly changing due to a culmination of factors. This essay highlights how to navigate this new fire epoch, communities must confront the escalating and highly complex risks of living on an inherently flammable planet.
PyroFutures 2025 (Wildland)
Framing the future of wildfires now
This essay explores wildfire dynamics since 2018, highlighting climate change, human encroachment, and shifting fire regimes. It examines biome-specific risks and resilience, and calls for systemic, informed responses to address escalating wildfires' dual ecological and destructive roles.
Scorched Earth
Understanding wildfire behaviour
Wildfires, integral to ecosystems, are intensifying due to a range of human and non-human factors. This essay examines fire cycles, biodiversity impacts, and adaptive strategies, advocating innovative management to address escalating risks and foster resilience in a rapidly warming world.
PyroFutures (Wildland)
Wildland fire trajectories to 2100 and beyond
Wildfires, shaped by factors including climate, vegetation, topography, and ignition, highlight ecological and climatic interdependence. This chapter examines historical and future fire patterns, amidst intensifying climate uncertainty and ecological reconfigurations in a warming world.
Wildfires and Humanity
A crisis at the crossroads of nature and development
Wildfires present escalating risks due to climate change and urbanisation. This essay examines strategies for adapting the WUI to protect communities, blending innovation, resilience, and cultural heritage to balance human development with fire-prone landscapes, ensuring safety and sustainability.
PyroFutures (WUI)
Forecasting the Future of the Wildland-Urban Interface
The wildland-urban interface faces rising threats from climate change, including wildfires and sea-level rise, risking mass displacement by 2100. This chapter examines these risks, their societal impacts, and the need for adaptive strategies like sustainable planning to counter this environmental crisis and foster resilience.