Fire is a fundamental Earth system process and a major driver of terrestrial ecosystem change, with cascading effects on the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, biogeochemical cycles, and human societies. Changes in climate, vegetation, land use, and human activity are in turn altering fire regimes, creating complex feedbacks across spatial and temporal scales. Understanding these coupled interactions is therefore essential for assessing the role of fire in a rapidly changing Earth system, particularly as the frequency, intensity, and impacts of extreme fire events increase in many regions.
This session brings together interdisciplinary research investigating fire–Earth system interactions across the past, present, and future. We welcome studies using observations, remote sensing, proxy records, field and laboratory measurements, statistical and process-based models, artificial intelligence, and data–model fusion approaches, spanning local to global scales.
We particularly encourage contributions addressing interactions between fire and: (1) weather, climate, atmospheric composition, chemistry, and circulation; (2) vegetation dynamics, ecosystem structure and function, terrestrial and ocean biogeochemical cycles; (3) cryospheric processes and components, including permafrost and sea ice; and (4) human health, land management, conservation, livelihoods, and other societal dimensions. We also welcome studies of (5) past, present, and projected changes in fire regimes, with particular emphasis on extreme and compound fire events; (6) fire datasets, products, and models, including validation, uncertainty, bias assessment, and correction; and (7) analytical and predictive tools that support fire monitoring, situational awareness, early warning, and decision-making.
By bringing together perspectives from across the Earth and environmental sciences, the session aims to advance an integrated understanding of fire as both a response to and a driver of Earth system change, and to identify emerging challenges and opportunities for predicting and managing fire in a changing world.