A recent study from the University of Science and Technology of China warns that urban wildfires will increase in frequency due to climate change. The researchers predict a 22.2% rise in outdoor fires in cities worldwide by 2100, potentially leading to 335,000 deaths and 1.1 million injuries. Their database tracked fire incidents in 2,847 cities from 2011-2020, revealing an alarming gap in current fire impact analyses, which predominantly focus on vegetation fires rather than those in urban settings.
"We find that global warming could lead to an unexpectedly high volume of fire casualties," the researchers wrote in their study.
"The current impact analyses have concentrated on vegetation fires rather than urban fires, even though they typically cause more direct fire casualties."
"Under a high emissions scenario, the scientists predict there could be a 22.2 per cent increase in outdoor fires in cities around the world by 2100."
"The trends in urban fire frequency due to global warming remain unknown, which highlights a critical gap in fire impact analysis."
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