Research group

STUDY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Department of Geography, Urban Studies and Land Planning- University of Cantabria (Spain)

CARRACEDO MARTÍN, VIRGINIA; DIEGO LIAÑO, CONCEPCIÓN; GARCÍA CODRÓN, JUAN CARLOS; RASILLA ÁLVAREZ, DOMINGO FERNANDO (2007). Recent climate variability trends and wildfire occurrence in Cantabria (Northern Spain). IV International Wildland Fire Conference, Sevilla. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, CD Rom.

ABSTRACT Wildfires are a frequent event in Cantabria (Northern Spain), but their seasonality does not match the typical warm season maximum generalized in most of the Iberian Peninsula. They occur at the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring (January to March), being mostly anthropogenically triggered, in conjunction with "Suradas", a weather event which combines high winds and low humidity. In this contribution temporal trends of several climatic variables from meteorological observatories located in Cantabria and neighbour regions are analyzed since 1961 during the highest risk period in order to assess to what extent the occurrence of wildfires may be linked to the recent climatic variability. Our results show that the regional climate has become warmer and drier, due to the combined effects of increases in temperatures, sunshine duration, and the decrease in relative humidity and precipitation, variables that are likely to play an important role in drought and fire proneness. However, the exception is the frequency of "Suradas", which have reduced. Those regional climatic trends are strongly linked to the recent evolution of atmospheric circulation at regional and hemispheric scale. The higher frequency of anticyclonic cells over the Iberian Peninsula, and conversely, the reduction of the number of Atlantic baroclinic disturbances are consistent with the temporal and spatial evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation. 

Recent climate variability trends and wildfire occurrence in Cantabria (Northern Spain). Available from: http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/sevilla-2007/contributions/doc/SESIONES_TEMATICAS/ST1/Carracedo2_et_al_SPAIN_Cantabria.pdf