Editor's Summary
23 March 2006
Fire raisers
The spate of forest fires in northern Russia has coincided with climate extremes, so unsurprisingly anthropogenic climate change has been suggested by some as a cause. A detailed survey of fires in the region confirms one word only of that phrase. Over 87% of the fires are 'anthropogenic', but are directly related to what humans do in forests, not mediated by climate.
Brief Communications: Ecology: Human role in Russian wild fires
Danilo Mollicone, Hugh D. Eva and Frédéric Achard
doi:10.1038/440436a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (462K) | Supplementary information