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Effects of wildfires on homes and lands
Impact of wildfires essay
Effects of wildfires essay
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Gloria Villa Barbosa
Professor Jennifer Brown
ENG 101
April 13th, 2014
Causes of Wildfires
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...
Disasters can be so impactful; some can forever change the course of history. While many at the time thought this story would soon pass, and with it all the potential bad publicity, the story of the Triangle fire spread quickly, and outraged many people. On a beautiful spring day in March 1911 when 146 workers lost their lives, a fire would prove it could do what years of reformers had failed to do, get the government on the side of the workers. I would argue that the fire largely impacted the country. Specifically, the Triangle Fire ended up changing New York’s interconnected political and economic scene, and spurred on the creation of stricter safety codes. For the first time owners would hold responsibility for their actions. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris; being indicted for manslaughter was proof of this. Social change seemed to be spurred as well; the general public and newspapers would come back the workers of New York. Large institutions would suffer as well. Tammany Hall would be feared less and less by waves of new immigrants. The largest change brought about by the blaze would be legislation. Twenty-five bills, recasting the labor laws of the state
Fires kill plants and trees leaving wildlife without homes and food. Large fires cause lots of smoke and air pollution.
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.
Virtually everywhere in the United States is affected to one degree of another by wildland fires. Even if a community is not directly involved with the fire itself, chances are that some of its members have gone to help fight wildland fires in other areas of the country by providing manpower, financial support, or other humanitarian aid.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Altho somewhat similar the two stories are very different in many ways. The first story is called “Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane and the other one is “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. Both of the books are part of the short story genre and realism stories. The author's purpose for writing the “Mystery of Heroism” is to tell a story about a brave man who went to get water for a dying man. The purpose for writing “To Build a Fire” is to tell about a man and his dog and how he tried to fight the below freezing temperatures to stay alive. Both authors use realism because they want to tell real stories about people and how they had to overcome struggles in their lifetime. These two stories have similarities but they are way more different than anything else. One of the stories is about a man who has to overcome fear to get water for a man.
Prescribed fires are a well debated topic. While many people support them because they "help prevent" more wildfires, and they are "controlled," I see from a different point of view. There's a reason most building don't allow smoking within a certain distance of the building. Many people don't like it and it can damage their health. Same thing with prescribed fires. They add more pollution to the air we breathe. I know a lot of people support these kinds of fires because the help control fuels, but there are other ways.
Human beings cause most wildfires, directly or indirectly. In the United States lightning, the only truly natural cause is responsible for less than 10% of all such fires. In the West, lightning is the primary cause, with smoking (cigarettes, matches, and such) the second most frequent. Combined they account for 50 to 75% of all wildfires. In the “13 southern states (Virginia to Texas) the primary cause is arson; this combined with smoking and debris burning makes up 75% of all wildfires” (Perry, 1994). The other causes of wildfires are machine use and campfires. Machine use includes railroads, logging, sawmills, and other operations using equip...
A: The film begins with a fire. It narrates the story of men running from a fire when, suddenly, one of the men stop and sets fire to the ground in front of him and the steps into the new safety zone he had just created. The term for his discovery became known as an escape fire. The directors used the idea of an escape fire as a metaphor for our health care system. Currently, our health care system is like a raging fire. The consuming flames of rising costs and a “disease maintenance” mind-set are about to consume our country and we must find a way out, an escape fire, before we perish. Like the men running away from the eminent death by the flames, we as a nation are sprinting towards
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.
Obliterating everything in its path, a bushfire is a natural hazard, which can be defined as wild fires in scrublands and or bushlands, especially one that spreads rapidly and is hard to contain. They can be catastrophic, causing severe damage to properties, the environment and even deaths. And as a result there is an ever-increasing need to prepare for the potential impacts of bushfires.
The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.