In February 2024, the 21 page report “Despite known coastal cooling trend, risk of deadly wildfires in central Chile increasing with changing land management in a warming climate” was released.
One of the main findings was that (bolding added for emphasis):
Across the studied area, fire risk is increasing notably due to current land management practices, such as the expansion of Wildland-Urban Interface areas (including the growth of informal settlements in forest zones) and widespread conversion from native to foreign and monoculture plantations.
The report can be read in full by visiting the Imperial London College’s website.
Note: GJEP traveled through the region of Chile devastated by wildfires during the country’s historic 2015-2016 fire season. We posted a photo essay of the devastating fires as a result of our investigation. GJEP will be travelling back to Chile in April 2024.
