Mega forest fires intensify floods in regional scales
Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2023
The 2019–2020 mega forest fires in southeast Australia significantly increased flood peak discharges for two years post-fire. Fire impacts were strongest in regions with winter-dominated, uniform rainfall, while negligible where summer-dominated rainfall prevailed. These results suggest that burned areas exacerbate infiltration-excess runoff, highlighting increasing flood risk in fire-prone regions under climate change.
Recommended citation: Xu, Zhenwu, Yongqiang Zhang, Günter Blöschl, and Shilong Piao. “Mega Forest Fires Intensify Flood Magnitudes in Southeast Australia.” Geophysical Research Letters 50, no. 12 (2023): e2023GL103812. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL103812.
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