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Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: A case study from Darwin, Australia.

ABSTRACT: Savanna fire management is a topic of global debate, with early dry season burning promoted as a large-scale emissions reduction opportunity. To date, discussions have centred on carbon abatement efficacy, biodiversity and cultural benefits and/or risks. Here we use a case study of Darwin, Australia to highlight smoke pollution as another critical consideration. Smoke pollution from savanna fires is a major public health issue, yet absent so far from discussions of program design. Here, we assess the likely impacts of increased early dry season burning on smoke pollution in Darwin between 2004 and 2019, spanning the introduction and expansion of carbon abatement programs. We found increased smoke pollution in the early dry season but little change in the late dry season, contributing to a net annual increase in air quality standard exceedances. Geospatial analysis suggests this relates to increased burning in the path of early dry season trade winds. This study highlights the complex health trade-offs involved with any large-scale prescribed burning, including for carbon abatement.

SUBMITTER: Jones PJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9481847 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: A case study from Darwin, Australia.

Jones Penelope J PJ Furlaud James M JM Williamson Grant J GJ Johnston Fay H FH Bowman David M J S DMJS

Ambio 20220524 11

Savanna fire management is a topic of global debate, with early dry season burning promoted as a large-scale emissions reduction opportunity. To date, discussions have centred on carbon abatement efficacy, biodiversity and cultural benefits and/or risks. Here we use a case study of Darwin, Australia to highlight smoke pollution as another critical consideration. Smoke pollution from savanna fires is a major public health issue, yet absent so far from discussions of program design. Here, we asses ...[more]

PMID: 35608727

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Project description:BackgroundMillions of people can potentially be exposed to smoke from forest fires, making this an important public health problem in many countries.ObjectiveIn this study we aimed to measure the association between out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and forest fire smoke exposures in a large city during a severe forest fire season, and estimate the number of excess OHCAs due to the fire smoke.MethodsWe investigated the association between particulate matter (PM) and other air pollutants and OHCA using a case-crossover study of adults (? 35 years of age) in Melbourne, Australia. Conditional logistic regression models were used to derive estimates of the percent change in the rate of OHCA associated with an interquartile range (IQR) increase in exposure. From July 2006 through June 2007, OHCA data were collected from the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry. Hourly air pollution concentrations and meteorological data were obtained from a central monitoring site.ResultsThere were 2,046 OHCAs with presumed cardiac etiology during our study period. Among men during the fire season, greater increases in OHCA were observed with IQR increases in the 48-hr lagged PM with diameter ? 2.5 ?m (PM2.5) (8.05%; 95% CI: 2.30, 14.13%; IQR = 6.1 ?g/m(3)) or ? 10 ?m (PM10) (11.1%; 95% CI: 1.55, 21.48%; IQR = 13.7 ?g/m(3)) and carbon monoxide (35.7%; 95% CI: 8.98, 68.92%; IQR = 0.3 ppm). There was no significant association between the rate of OHCA and air pollutants among women. One hundred seventy-four "fire-hours" (i.e., hours in which Melbourne's air quality was affected by forest fire smoke) were identified during 12 days of the 2006/2007 fire season, and 23.9 (95% CI: 3.1, 40.2) excess OHCAs were estimated to occur due to elevations in PM2.5 during these fire-hours.ConclusionsThis study found an association between exposure to forest fire smoke and an increase in the rate of OHCA. These findings have implications for public health messages to raise community awareness and for planning of emergency services during forest fire seasons.

Project description:Carbon markets afford potentially useful opportunities for supporting socially and environmentally sustainable land management programs but, to date, have been little applied in globally significant fire-prone savanna settings. While fire is intrinsic to regulating the composition, structure and dynamics of savanna systems, in north Australian savannas frequent and extensive late dry season wildfires incur significant environmental, production and social impacts. Here we assess the potential of market-based savanna burning greenhouse gas emissions abatement and allied carbon biosequestration projects to deliver compatible environmental and broader socio-economic benefits in a highly biodiverse north Australian setting. Drawing on extensive regional ecological knowledge of fire regime effects on fire-vulnerable taxa and communities, we compare three fire regime metrics (seasonal fire frequency, proportion of long-unburnt vegetation, fire patch-size distribution) over a 15-year period for three national parks with an indigenously (Aboriginal) owned and managed market-based emissions abatement enterprise. Our assessment indicates improved fire management outcomes under the emissions abatement program, and mostly little change or declining outcomes on the parks. We attribute improved outcomes and putative biodiversity benefits under the abatement program to enhanced strategic management made possible by the market-based mitigation arrangement. For these same sites we estimate quanta of carbon credits that could be delivered under realistic enhanced fire management practice, using currently available and developing accredited Australian savanna burning accounting methods. We conclude that, in appropriate situations, market-based savanna burning activities can provide transformative climate change mitigation, ecosystem health, and community benefits in northern Australia, and, despite significant challenges, potentially in other fire-prone savanna settings.

Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about the physical and mental health impact of exposure to landscape fire smoke in women with asthma. This study examined the health impacts and information-seeking behaviours of women with asthma exposed to the 2019/2020 Australian fires, including women who were pregnant.MethodsWomen with asthma were recruited from the Breathing for Life Trial in Australia. Following the landscape fire exposure period, self-reported data were collected regarding symptoms (respiratory and non-respiratory), asthma exacerbations, wellbeing, quality of life, information seeking, and landscape fire smoke exposure mitigation strategies. Participants' primary residential location and fixed site monitoring was used to geolocate and estimate exposure to landscape fire-related fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5).ResultsThe survey was completed by 81 pregnant, 70 breastfeeding and 232 non-pregnant and non-breastfeeding women with asthma. Participants had a median daily average of 17 μg/m3 PM2.5 and 105 μg/m3 peak PM2.5 exposure over the fire period (October 2019 to February 2020). Over 80% of participants reported non-respiratory and respiratory symptoms during the fire period and 41% reported persistent symptoms. Over 82% reported asthma symptoms and exacerbations of asthma during the fire period. Half the participants sought advice from a health professional for their symptoms. Most (97%) kept windows/doors shut when inside and 94% stayed indoors to minimise exposure to landscape fire smoke. Over two in five (43%) participants reported that their capacity to participate in usual activities was reduced due to prolonged smoke exposure during the fire period. Participants reported greater anxiety during the fire period than after the fire period (mean (SD) = 53(13) versus 39 (13); p < 0.001). Two in five (38%) pregnant participants reported having concerns about the effect of fire events on their pregnancy.ConclusionProlonged landscape fire smoke exposure during the 2019/2020 Australian fire period had a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of women with asthma, including pregnant women with asthma. This was despite most women taking actions to minimise exposure to landscape fire smoke. Effective and consistent public health messaging is needed during landscape fire events to guard the health of women with asthma.

Project description:Fire seasonality, an important characteristic of fire regimes, commonly is delineated using seasons based on single weather variables (rainfall or temperature). We used nonparametric cluster analyses of a 17-year (1993-2009) data set of weather variables that influence likelihoods and spread of fires (relative humidity, air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, soil moisture) to explore seasonality of fire in pine savanna-grassland landscapes at the Avon Park Air Force Range in southern Florida. A four-variable, three-season model explained more variation within fire weather variables than models with more seasons. The three-season model also delineated intra-annual timing of fire more accurately than a conventional rainfall-based two-season model. Two seasons coincided roughly with dry and wet seasons based on rainfall. The third season, which we labeled the fire season, occurred between dry and wet seasons and was characterized by fire-promoting conditions present annually: drought, intense solar radiation, low humidity, and warm air temperatures. Fine fuels consisting of variable combinations of pyrogenic pine needles, abundant C4 grasses, and flammable shrubs, coupled with low soil moisture, and lightning ignitions early in the fire season facilitate natural landscape-scale wildfires that burn uplands and across wetlands. We related our three season model to fires with different ignition sources (lightning, military missions, and prescribed fires) over a 13-year period with fire records (1997-2009). Largest wildfires originate from lightning and military ignitions that occur within the early fire season substantially prior to the peak of lightning strikes in the wet season. Prescribed ignitions, in contrast, largely occur outside the fire season. Our delineation of a pronounced fire season provides insight into the extent to which different human-derived fire regimes mimic lightning fire regimes. Delineation of a fire season associated with timing of natural lightning ignitions should be useful as a basis for ecological fire management of humid savanna-grassland landscapes worldwide.

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Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: A case study from Darwin, Australia.

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Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: A case study from Darwin, Australia.

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