Factors of Forest Fires

582 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: About forest fires

Long before fire was used by humans, forest fire was initially play an importantly role in maintaining the ecology of the world. The factors of forest fires can be divided into two types, which are natural forest fires and human-induced forest fires. Usually human-induced fires are detected earlier than natural forest fires, which might have burn for hours long before the arrival of firefighters. Thus, natural forest fires cause a greater harm to forest in term of area burnt than human-induced forest fires although the later one has actually contribute to a higher percentage of the total cases of forest fires.
Natural forest fires are resulted from spontaneous combustion, volcanic activity, or lightning, which is the most significant among the three factors listed.Statistics showed that approximately 40,000 thunder clouds occur over the world daily (Schonland, 1950). Unexpectedly, every single lightning-caused forest fire causes more mean area burnt than human-induced fire (Ahrens, 2013). The occurrence of most forest fire started by lightning is during summer, early evening, and late afternoon.
Spontaneous combustion happens when a fire is initiated by the lightning on dry fuel such as leaves. Those dry fuels are the supporting elements that enable the fire to spread throughout the forest. Leaves are easy to be ignited due to the less water content as compared to those stored in tree trunks and branches. Such condition happens especially during drought seasons where the rate of transpiration is high and it is not balanced by the rate of water absorption. Thus, those plants can very inflammable due to low water content.
According to British Columbia (n.d.), another factor of natural forest fire is the weather. The three importa...

... middle of paper ...

...eo Camphor / Brunei Teak. Retrieved from http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php/31301-Trees-of-Singapore-Botanical-Gardens
Gönner, C. (2000). Causes and impacts of forest fires: A case study from East Kalimantan, Indonesia. International Forest Fire News (IFFN) No. 22, April 2000, p.35–40. Retrieved from http://www.fire.uni-reiburg.de/iffn/country/id/id_24.htm.
Kimmins, J. P. (2004). Forest ecology: A foundation for sustainable forest management and environmental ethics in forestry (3rd ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Rolph, G. (2013). More than a dozen fires are burning across south west Queensland, many of them sparked by lightning. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-14/storms-to-accompany-change-as-heat-wave-ends/4463428
Schonland, B. F. J. (1950). The flight of the thunderbolt. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Show More
Related

  • How Controlled Burns Improve Forestry

    1703 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thousands upon thousands of acres are lost in forest fires every year. We always hear about the dramatic losses caused by forest fires and are often concerned by them. There are so many horrible effects from fires and most of them affect so many people. Studies have shown that out of all of the different methods to decrease fire damage, prescribed burns are the most affective. Many people would argue that they are not as affective because they cause so many health problems. Although that is a very important view and may seem valid, those health issues are not as extreme as one might think. People should look at the majority of the benefits form prescribed burns and they will see how affective and important they are. Prevention is the key to society these days and is definitely an important factor in saving lives. If more lives can be saved as well as land and wildlife, prescribed burns may be the better way to go about forest fires. Although, prescribed burns are better for the environment in order to prevent drastic forest fires, severe damage to timber and extreme death of wildlife; some people feel it affects the health of a firefighter too much and it causes too many long term effects.

    Read More

  • Malibu and Yosemite Benefits from Wildfires

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ecological effects of wildfires on Yosemite are among some its greatest benefits. Trees like Bishop Pines and Sequoias have evolved in such a way that their seeds will only open when exposed to high temperatures. The fires also help to clear out dead leaves and weeds, thereby making sunlight accessible to new plants and increasing their chances to germinate (Marder). Wildfires are so essential in areas like Yosemite that over millions of years, plants have developed strategies to be successful in this type of environment. For instance, giant sequoias have developed a thick layer of fire-resistant bark. This bark is “the main explanation for tree survival in intense fires” (Gignoux, Colbert, and Menaut). Fire makes the soil fertile and redistributes the nutrients evenly so that the next generation of trees can cover more space. The fires have helped...

    Read More

  • The 10:00 a.m. Policy and the Let it Burn Policy

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    Fire plays a huge role in natural forests. The let it burn policy allows natural fires to burn unless, they threaten people, property, or endangered species. This policy allows the years and years of kindling that has fallen and piled up on the forest floor to burn up in smaller fires, instead of having huge devastating fire like the ones that burning for months in 1910 and 1988. When the west was first settled, forests were thinned by lumber companies that logged the trees and burned the logging debris, and by ranchers looking to increase pasture land. The last herder coming out of the mountains would set a fire to ensure good forage for the next year.

    Read More

  • Diverse Australian Biomes Adapting

    4491 Words  | 9 Pages

    Australia is currently the driest continent in the world and has a vast history of fire to prove it. Bushfires in the Adelaide Hills were first described and recorded in 1827, and have occurred at frequent intervals since that time. Fire weather can reach extremes in places such as Rudall River National Park in NW Western Australia. Temperatures are often above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), dew points can drop to —37 degrees Celsius, and the winds, uninhibited by trees, can reach speeds of 50-60 km/h (31-37 mph) at any given time in the year. The fuels there may appear to be completely dead, and gaps between plants may be a meter or more (Gill, 1995). In 1966 a massive fire at Brooyar, Queensland had flame heights of 20-25 meters (65-82 feet). In addition to being devastating, the fires are also very unpredictable. A bushfire in the Baulkham Hills in January of 1975 completely destroyed property and some homes, while leaving others untouched. Serious fires occur in the Dandenog Ranges at frequent intervals, and housing there has always been a difficult problem with fire control [3]. Fire has also been used for centuries as an important tool for land management (O’Neill, 1993).

    Read More

  • Lessons Learned from the San Diego, California Wildfire

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part because of the hot dry summers and the hot dry turbulent Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert during the fall months. Now it has become a yearlong event (Mckay, 2010). These conditions greatly contribute to the “fire season” throughout this area. This set of circumstances in conjunction with downed power lines and humans that ignited fires took place in October of 2007. This led to a series of fires that burned more than 500,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, killed 9, injured 85, and forced the successful evacuation of around 500,000 people out of harm’s way.

    Read More

  • Physics of Wildland Firefighting

    2906 Words  | 6 Pages

    Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.

    Read More

  • Prescribed Fire and White-Tailed Deer

    1812 Words  | 4 Pages

    Prescribed fire is a controlled burn of an area done by a team of experienced or educated people in a grassland or forested area. This type of burn is intended to help the health of plant and animal species and restore them to their native state. When certain areas that need to be burned so often do not get burned, they can be a hazard to the ecosystem in which it presides. A forest can get over grown and thick which will create more fuel for a wildfire that can destroy a forest community. In grassland a controlled burn, or prescribed burn, can help eliminate invasive species that can take over grasslands that are harmful to the more desirable plants. This type of fire can be seen as harmful and a disaster by many people, but it has great benefits on the areas in which it is done.

    Read More

  • Essay On Chicago Fire

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the summer of 1871, was said to be very dry with little to no rainfall, leaving everything dry and hazardous to catching on fire. During this so-called drought, it wasn’t uncommon for a fire to break out; they were pretty regular throughout

    Read More

  • Summary Of The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fires kill plants and trees leaving wildlife without homes and food. Large fires cause lots of smoke and air pollution.

    Read More

  • Healthy Forest Initiative: Is it really healthy?

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    As people of the twenty-first century, we are all too familiar with the frequent occurrence of wildfires in our nation’s forests. Each year millions of acres of woodlands are destroyed in brutal scorches. It has been estimated that 190 million acres of rangelands in the United States are highly susceptible to catastrophic fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). About a third of these high-risk forests are located in California (www.sfgate.com). These uncontrollable blazes not only consume our beautiful forests but also the wildlife, our homes and often the lives of those who fight the wildfires. The frequency of these devastating fires has been increasing over the years. In fact, in the years 2000 and 2002, it has been reported that the United States has faced its worst two years in fifty years for mass destruction fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). The increased natural fuels buildup coupled with droughts have been a prevailing factor in contributing to our wildfires and unhealthy forests (www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2004/pr040303_forests.html). Due to the severity of these wildfires, several regulations and guidelines have been implemented to save our forests. In fact, the President himself has devised a plan in order to restore our forests and prevent further destruction of our woodlands.

    Read More

  • Opposition to Prescribed Burns

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forest fires kill many animals and usually destroy a large amount of land. Prescribed burns seem like they would be the best idea, but are they? Their claim to fame is to clear out land in order to decrease the burning space for when an actual forest fire occurs. Yet this may seem like a brilliant idea, but one must look at the negative aspects of controlled burnings. People might have a change of heart when they realize the damages and effects of such an interesting act. Keep in mind that not only is your health involved but even such things as the inconvenience of dealing with a smoky town. It is important to understand that prescribed burns cause severe health problems especially to firefighters; these are concerning carbon monoxide poisoning, visibility issues and health risks that will affect the future.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Wildfires

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.

    Read More

  • Climate Change Essay Outline

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.

    Read More

  • Essay On Wildfire

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wildfires are catastrophic disasters that destroy everything in their path. “A wildfire (also known as forest fire, grass fire, vegetation fire, etc) is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wild land areas, but which can also consume houses or agricultural resources.” (Wildfire.) The causes of wildfires are mostly intentional, negligence or accidents and natural causes. Wildfires have three distinct phases: Initiation, propagation, and extinction. This phenomenon affects our ecosystem, such as air and earth. In addition, people who witness this kind of catastrophe in the lower cases they lose belongings as houses or cars, but they can also lose their lives. There are many campaigns that help prevent these phenomena, but they need the help of the entire community. It is very important take care of not cause an accident. Wildfire is a phenomenon very common on these days causing a terrible damage to our environment and we have to prevent its expansion through our help, cooperation and prudence...

    Read More

  • The Disappearing Rainforests

    1633 Words  | 4 Pages

    Salim, Emil and Ullsten, Ola. Our Forests, Our Future. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

    Read More

More about Factors of Forest Fires

Open Document