EGU2020-1414, updated on 12 Jun 2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1414
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Fire susceptibility and transitional climate regime in Amazon tropics

Xiyan Xu1, Gensuo Jia1, Xiaoyan Zhang2, and Ying Xue2
Xiyan Xu et al.
  • 1Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment Research for Temperate East Asia, Beijing, China (xiyan.xu@tea.ac.cn)
  • 2Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China

Amazon wildfire surge in 2019 once again raised the alarm about the fate of the Earth’s most biodiverse forest. Climate change and deforestation lead to greater vegetation water stress and susceptibility to fires. We use multiple satellite and climate reanalysis data to explore fire susceptibility in response to shifted climate regime due to global climate change and forest loss in Amazon regions. We found that climate in Amazon has been shifting to increased frequency of extreme conditions with increased drought extent and severity. The tropical vegetation that has adapted to its surrounding climate are less resilient under stress of climate change and highly susceptible to fire.  The fire susceptibility has been expanding through the transition season and northward to the tropical rain and seasonal forests. These results highlighted the links between fire risk, climate change and human activities in Amazon regions.

How to cite: Xu, X., Jia, G., Zhang, X., and Xue, Y.: Fire susceptibility and transitional climate regime in Amazon tropics, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-1414, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-1414, 2019