%0 Journal Article %T Clima e incendios forestales en Cantabria: evoluci車n y tendencias recientes %A Carracedo Mart赤n %A V. %A Diego Liaˋo %A C. %A Garc赤a Codr車n %A J. C. %A Rasilla 芍lvarez %A D. F. %J Pirineos : Revista de Ecolog赤a de Montaˋa %D 2009 %I Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient赤ficas %X Wildfires are a frequent event in Cantabria, but their seasonality does not match the typical warm season maximum generalized in most of the Iberian Peninsula. They occur at the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring (January to March), being mostly anthropogenically triggered, in conjunction with ※Suradas§, a windstorm which combines high winds and low humidity. In this contribution temporal trends of several climatic variables from meteorological observatories located in Cantabria and nearby regions are analyzed since 1961 during the highest risk period in order to assess to what extent the occurrence of wildfires may be linked to the recent climatic variability. Our results show that the regional climate has become warmer and drier, due to the combined effects of increases in temperatures and the decrease in relative humidity and precipitation, variables that are likely to play an important role in drought and fire proneness. However, the exception is the frequency of ※Suradas§, which have reduced. Those regional climatic trends are strongly linked to the recent evolution of atmospheric circulation at regional and hemispheric scale. The higher frequency of anticyclonic cells over the Iberian Peninsula, and conversely, the reduction of the number of Atlantic baroclinic disturbances are consistent with the temporal evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Los incendios son un fen車meno frecuente en Cantabria, pero su estacionalidad no se corresponde con el t赤pico m芍ximo estival caracter赤stico del resto de Espa a. La mayor赤a se concentran a fines del invierno y comienzos de la primavera y su origen son unas pr芍cticas ganaderas (principalmente la quema de matorral para mantenimiento de pastos) que aprovechan las favorables condiciones atmosf谷ricas originadas por un tipo de temporal de viento conocido localmente como ※surada§. En este art赤culo se analizan las tendencias de algunas variables clim芍ticas, desde 1961, durante el periodo de m芍ximo riesgo de incendios para determinar en qu谷 medida la aparici車n de incendios forestales ha estado condicionada por la evoluci車n clim芍tica reciente. Los resultados muestran que el clima regional ha experimentado un calentamiento y un desecamiento, debido al efecto combinado del incremento de la temperatura y de la reducci車n de humedad relativa y precipitaci車n, variables que juegan un papel determinante en la aparici車n de este fen車meno. Sin embargo, la frecuencia de ※suradas§ ha disminuido. Esta evoluci車n clim芍tica regional est芍 estrechamente vinculada con la evoluci車n de la circulaci車n atmosf谷rica a escal %K wildfires %K Cantabria %K climate variability %K windstorms %K incendios forestales %K Cantabria %K variabilidad clim芍tica %K temporales de viento %U http://pirineos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/pirineos/article/view/28/29