[LMD publishes] Marine Lanet PhD
Anglais
On November 25, Marine Lanet defended her thesis. Marine has recently published, in collaboration with researchers from LATMOS and the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, an article on the attribution of summer 2022 fires in south-west France. In this study, the authors first analysed a range of climate indices to identify those most strongly correlated with the area burned in the Landes Forest. They found that an index combining soil moisture over a 6-month period, along with temperature and vapor pressure deficit over a 3-month period, showed the strongest correlation with wildfire occurrence. This index then served as a basis to assess the extent to which the 2022 fires could be attributed to anthropogenic climate change.
According to their findings, climate conditions conducive to the wildfires seen in the summer of 2022 now have a return period of 13 years under the current climate. Without human-induced climate change, however, such conditions would be expected only every 30 years.
This research highlights concerns about the future sustainability of the Landes Forest and underscores the urgent need for both greenhouse gas mitigation and climate adaptation strategies.
Reference:
Lanet, M., Li, L., Ehret, A. et al. Attribution of summer 2022 extreme wildfire season in Southwest France to anthropogenic climate change. npj Clim Atmos Sci 7, 267 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-024-00821-z