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Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: a case study from Darwin, Australia

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-21, 07:46 authored by Penelope JonesPenelope Jones, James Furlaud, Grant WilliamsonGrant Williamson, Fay JohnstonFay Johnston, David BowmanDavid Bowman
Savanna fire management is a topic of global debate, with early dry season burning promoted as a large-scale emissions reduction opportunity. To date, discussions have centred on carbon abatement efficacy, biodiversity and cultural benefits and/or risks. Here we use a case study of Darwin, Australia to highlight smoke pollution as another critical consideration. Smoke pollution from savanna fires is a major public health issue, yet absent so far from discussions of program design. Here, we assess the likely impacts of increased early dry season burning on smoke pollution in Darwin between 2004 and 2019, spanning the introduction and expansion of carbon abatement programs. We found increased smoke pollution in the early dry season but little change in the late dry season, contributing to a net annual increase in air quality standard exceedances. Geospatial analysis suggests this relates to increased burning in the path of early dry season trade winds. This study highlights the complex health trade-offs involved with any large-scale prescribed burning, including for carbon abatement.

History

Publication title

Ambio

Volume

51

Pagination

2214–2226

ISSN

0044-7447

Department/School

Menzies Institute for Medical Research

Publisher

Springer International Publishing AG

Place of publication

Switzerland

Rights statement

The Author(s) 2022 This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Air quality; Climate change mitigation strategies; Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified