CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOREST FIRE TREND IN THE AEGEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN REGIONS OF TURKEY

Abstract

The climate change has significant effects on the fire activity. Fire statistics in Turkey have been kept since 1937. When these records are analyzed, it can be seen that the large fires have been more active in the Mediterranean region after 1990, while the small fires have been active in the Aegean region. When top 5 years, in which large fires are seen in the Mediterranean region, are examined, there is 14.75 times increase in terms of the area burned in fires that occurred after 1990. In the Aegean region, where the number of small fires is at highest, there are no fires before 1990 in the largest five fires in respect of burned area. In the fires that occurred after 1990, 5% of the forests of the Mediterranean region and 2% of the forests of the Aegean region have been damaged. In this article, the fire statistics obtained from the General Directorate of Forestry and climate data obtained from General Directorate of Meteorology for the years 1973-2009 were used. The statistical analysis of the fire and climate data of 36 years indicates that the fire activity in both regions has increased.