“This community will grow” — little concern for future wildfires in a dry and increasingly hotter Swedish rural community

• DOI: 10.1007/s10113-024-02227-2
• Publication Date: 2024-04-22T08:01:58Z
• Authors: Kerstin Eriksson; Johan Sjöström; Frida Vermina Pla...
• Keywords: Rural community

Abstract Increased risk of wildfires is often highlighted in media coverage climate change the Nordic countries. How an increased reflected concerns and adaptive measures within most likely affected communities nevertheless not known. This study investigates adaptation to a rural community south-eastern Sweden. The comparatively dry area has history frequent but low-consequence projected experience Sweden’s largest increase severe fire weather towards 2100. Through narratives, this elucidates potential wildfire motivations behind measures. narratives are compared physical causal network extracted from literature on fires their consequences region. Residents foresee do consider it threat future well-being community. Forest owners homeowners express low commitment preventive or Instead, contrasting reality twentieth century, service currently considered be responsible for both preventing suppressing fires. attitude attributed lack implications generally well-managed Actions prevention seem triggered by attention real high-consequence events occurring elsewhere, rather than local occurrence projections.