Project description
Studying the history of transitory wildfire smoke
Smoke from wildfires is filling the skies. As the climate changes, an increase in annual wildfires causes plumes of ash and particulate to choke the northern hemisphere during summer months. Although these 'smoke seasons' have increased in the 21st century, they are part of a longer history of interaction between humans and smoke. The EU-funded Wildsmoke project will study the history of transitory wildfire smoke in the northern hemisphere between 1911 and 1961. By analysing accumulated history, it will seek to understand the social, economic and political dimensions of human’s dynamic relationship with smoke. Wildsmoke situates modern smoke events within the historical context to help us understand how wildfire smoke impacts northern communities, while focusing especially on policy and environmental justice issues.
Objective
Wildsmoke examines the history of transient wildfire smoke in the northern hemisphere as part of past and continuing environmental change. The project traces smoke across political and disciplinary borders. It implicates national and regional climate change policy, especially issues of social equity and environmental justice in areas of Europe most affected by smoke seasons. The work offers increased understanding and control over a subject that has been difficult to grasp while positioning the researcher at the influential intersection between academic and government work.
The unprecedented scale and frequency of wildfire in the northern hemisphere has made smoke a seasonal occurrence in skies around the world. In 2018, ash drifted from fires in northwestern Canada into northern Europe, altering forecasts on both continents, settling in Antarctic ice, and accelerating glacial melt rates. Although climate change has exacerbated smoke events in the twenty-first century, smoke seasons lie within a longer history of human-smoke interaction (wild and domestic) stretching back into deep time. Wildsmoke analyses this accumulated history to draw lessons for the present. My research frames smoke seasons as part of a long and dynamic relationship with smoke which has changed over time and is responsive to the nuances of social, political, and economic history.
Understanding the way our relationships with smoke have been built over time is important because smoke is a form of slow environmental violence. Smoke policy must be proactive about managing smoke and its impacts on landscapes and bodies. Smoke is unevenly distributed by wind, vegetation, humidity, and individual vulnerability. A humanistic approach is necessary because the ways in which the bodily and ecological burdens of smoke fall are often determined by socio-political factors. Smoke is not neutral, and has historically impacted some groups more severely than others.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4021 Stavanger
Norway
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.