Search results for " fires"
showing 6 items of 16 documents
The Role of Fire in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
2019
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations do not mention Fire as a key factor in achieving an environmentally-friendly human society. This paper reviews the key aspects of the impact of fire that make it necessary to update the SDGs. Upon reviewing the scientific literature, it was found that fire has been part of the Earth System for the last 400 million years, and that it is part of biogeochemical cycles. From a geological perspective, fire shaped the current Earth System. Humans have used fire in the last million years as hunter-gatherers, and the last Pleistocene period evolved with the presence of fire. Since the Neolithic revolution, humankind spread the use of fi…
Soil and organic carbon redistribution in a recently burned Mediterranean hillslope affected by water erosion processes
2022
Forest fires cause many changes in the physical, chemical and biological soil properties such as aggregation and soil organic carbon contents (SOC) as well as on soil hydrology and erosion processes. Most studies on post-fire soil erosion in Mediterranean environments have been plot-based and research at hillslope or broader scale is scarce. Understanding SOC nature, distribution and modifications, as produced by forest fires and erosion, has become crucial to model and define the role of soil erosion as source or sink of C, and to sustainably manage ecosystem services related to the soil resource. This research provides data about the loss and redistribution of soil and SOC in a Mediterran…
A Methodology for Protection of Trees Against Lightning Strikes as a Measure to Prevent Fires and Loss of Human Life
2021
Some regions may be characterized by a very low annual lightning ground flash density, and yet lightning strikes seem to have been in those areas the cause of widespread wildfires in forested areas. Due to global climate change, these occurrences seem to be an increasing threat. In this paper, the authors discuss the withstand capability of trees against lightning and introduce the criteria for the deployment of tree lightning protection systems (TLPS) to protect forested areas, where deemed necessary by the tree risk assessment. This work analytically identifies the critical trunk radius of the tree below which the tree may explode in the case of a lightning strike and ignite the surroundi…
Study of Intumescent Coatings Growth for Fire Retardant Systems in Naval Applications: Experimental Test and Mathematical Model
2022
Onboard ships, fire is one of the most dangerous events that can occur. For both military and commercial ships, fire risks are the most worrying; for this reason they have an important impact on the design of the vessel. The intumescent coatings react when heated or in contact with a living flame, and a multi-layered insulating structure grows up, protecting the underlying structure. In this concern, the aim of the paper is to evaluate the intumescent capacity of different composite coatings coupling synergistically modeling and experimental tests. In particular, the experiments have been carried out on a new paint formulation, developed by Colorificio Atria S.r.l., in which the active comp…
AGGIORNAMENTO SULLA DISTRIBUZIONE DEL SUCCIACAPRE Caprimulgidae) IN SICILIA CAPRIMULGUS EUROPAEUS (Aves
2021
Caprimulgus europaeus In recent years Update on the distribution of breeding Nightjar in Sicily. there have been numerous observations of Nightjar in areas where it had never previously been observed. In some cases the reason may be a deeper exploration, but in other cases the possible explanation is the expansion of the species. However, it is quite interesting the change in the habitat by this species. The present paper provides an update of its status based on data collected in the fifteen years following the publication of the last Sicilian Atlas of breeding birds.
Análisis conjunto y espacios naturales: una aplicación al Paraje Natural del Desert de les Palmes
2007
We use stated preference methods to analyze consumer preferences on the attributes of protected natural areas and to estimate the willingness to pay for reducing the risk of fires in the site. For the first goal, conjoint analysis is used. Three attributes are considered: biodiversity, dimension of the natural area and the economic contribution that would have to be made for its maintenance and preservation. The willingness to pay for reducing the risk of fires has been estimated using choice experiment. The data have been gathered from a mail survey conducted among people living near the Desert de les Palmes Park, a protected area located in the Valencian Community (Spain). En el trabajo s…