Jeffers, J.M, Gonzalez, S, Pulido-Sanchez, P and Harwood, A (2023) Constructing a history of wildfires in Ireland using digitised newspaper archives. In: American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, 23 - 27 March 2023, Denver, USA [online].
Abstract
The importance of developing more detailed historical records of climate related hazards has been increasingly recognised in recent years. These new histories of hazard events can be used to provide an improved baseline knowledge to contextualise contemporary climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. This presentation outlines ongoing research to construct a new historical record of wildfires on the island of Ireland using the digitised archives of 13 newspapers covering the period from 1738 to 2020. Wildfires represent an understudied hazard in Ireland where research and policy have tended to focus on more prominent hazards such as flooding. While data collection and analysis remains ongoing, this research reveals that Irish newspapers have provided extensive reporting on wildfire hazards, covering both wildfire events in numerous countries around the world as well as those that took place in Ireland. This presentation will present initial results illustrating the frequency and distribution of wildfire events in Ireland through time, as well as their impacts and responses to them by local communities and other actors. The presentation will also reflect on the challenges and opportunities of using digitised newspaper archives as a data source for developing knowledge on hazards and disasters in the past.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
|---|---|
| UN SDGs: | Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Goal 13: Climate Action |
| Keywords: | hazard, climate change, adaptation, wildfire, history, Ireland |
| Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) |
| Divisions: | School of Sciences |
| Research Centres and Groups: | Centre for Environmental Humanities Hazard, Risk and Disaster Research Group |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Oct 2023 12:08 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Oct 2023 12:16 |
| URI / Page ID: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/15780 |
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