Exploring EM-DAT for depicting spatiotemporal trends of drought and wildfires and their connections with anthropogenic pressure

Michael Nones (), Hossein Hamidifar () and Seyed Mohammad Bagher Shahabi-Haghighi
Additional contact information
Michael Nones: Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences
Hossein Hamidifar: Shiraz University
Seyed Mohammad Bagher Shahabi-Haghighi: Shiraz University

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2024, vol. 120, issue 1, No 42, 957-973

Abstract: Abstract In light of increasing extreme events driven by climate change, the relationship between drought and wildfire events and their impacts on society is of paramount importance, necessitating comprehensive studies to understand long-term trends. This manuscript utilizes the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) to gather data on drought and wildfire events, focusing on the number of affected people and human losses. The analysis covers the period from 1983 to 2022 and incorporates eco-hydro-socio-geographical variables such as gross domestic product (GDP), precipitation anomaly, population density, and forested area. The study reveals significant geographical disparities in the impacts of drought and wildfire. Asia stands out as the region most affected by these phenomena, with more than 72% of individuals experiencing their effects. In contrast, Europe and Oceania show negligible impacts, accounting for less than 1% collectively. When it comes to losses specifically caused by drought, Asia has the highest share at around 82%. Conversely, Oceania has the lowest share, with less than 0.1% of total losses attributed to drought. In the case of wildfires, Africa takes the lead with 84% of total losses. On the other hand, Oceania, Europe, Asia, and America collectively contribute only 16% to the total losses, which is considerably lower. Temporal analysis indicates an increasing trend in the number of people affected by both drought and wildfire, particularly after the early 2000s, potentially attributed to the improved reporting in EM-DAT. Correlation tests highlight the inverse relationship between GDP and the studied parameters, while precipitation anomaly exhibits an inverse correlation with wildfire-affected populations. Forested area significantly correlates with wildfire-related damages. These insights can inform policies and actions at various levels, from local to international, to address the challenges posed by climate-related disasters.

Keywords: Drought; EM-DAT; GDP; Human losses; Wildfires (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-023-06209-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:120:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-023-06209-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11069

DOI: 10.1007/s11069-023-06209-1

Access Statistics for this article

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards is currently edited by Thomas Glade, Tad S. Murty and Vladimír Schenk

More articles in Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards from Springer, International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().