A trio of environmental scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, working with a colleague from China’s Ministry of Education, has found evidence via satellite analysis that global wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas have grown by 35% over the past two decades.
In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their analysis of global satellite data from the years 2000, 2010 and 2020.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that over the past several decades, people have been building houses at the fringes of natural settings, putting their lives at risk from wildfires. In this new effort, the researchers sought to measure just how much encroachment has occurred.
WUI areas are defined as the places where developed areas meet undeveloped natural areas, such as deserts, grasslands or forests. Over the past several decades, people looking to escape populated areas have been venturing into neighboring wildlands to build their homes. The result is an increase in contact between humans and wildlife, such as bears and coyotes. It has also led to more homes destroyed by small, local wildfires.
To learn more about WUI areas, the researchers obtained satellite imagery that showed land characteristics for the years 2000, 2010 and 2020. In comparing imagery over time, the researchers observed WUI areas increasing around the globe.
Adding them all together showed a 35% increase in the size of such areas—they also noted that approximately 85% of the increase happened during the second decade, suggesting the pace of growth has been growing. The highest growth rates occurred in Nigeria, eastern parts of China and several parts of the United States.
The research team also obtained global wildfire data to see if the growth in WUI areas had led to more fires. They found that the rate of low-intensity fires had indeed increased in areas inside of WUI. They noted that high-intensity fires, on the other hand, were more likely to occur outside of WUI areas. They conclude that their results could help officials manage wildfire risk.
More information: Yongxuan Guo et al, Global expansion of wildland-urban interface intensifies human exposure to wildfire risk in the 21st century, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado9587
Journal information: Science Advances
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