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Primary effects of wildfires
Natural and human factors of wildfires essay
Natural and human factors of wildfires essay
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Over the last few years, there has been an unusual amount of devastating wildfires reported around the globe. Alaska, Indonesia, Canada, California, Spain, Portugal, and Chile have all been affected by the deadly fires. The number of deaths from wildfires has greatly increased over the last few decades. Wildfires are usually caused by careless humans or large lightning strikes. However, scientists believe that the wildfires that have recently occured have been caused by drastic climate changes. Areas have gotten hotter and drier than they have been in the past.
Malibu and Yosemite share similar ecosystem, which encourages wildfires and periodic firestorms. In his book Ecology of Fear, Mike Davis argues that Malibu should burn because wildfires are a part of its history. To illustrate his point, he relates numerous historical events from the first settlement of the region to modern days. Despite the high frequency of wildfires in Malibu, humans have continued to settle there in droves. Those settlers have fought the fires, which has done nothing but augment their intensity. Unlike Malibu, with its populated areas that have been damaged by wildfires, Yosemite benefits greatly from wildfires. Yosemite’s ecosystem has evolved with wildfires; indeed, without wildfires, Yosemite would lose its uniqueness. Also, Yosemite is not as heavily populated as Malibu, so fires in Yosemite would not affect humans to the same degree that they do in Malibu.
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).
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.
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.
It is so sad to see the horror of forest fires and how they corrupt our beautiful land. So much damage comes out of what started so small. At least 603 square miles of land were burned in the early stages of the Arizona fire only a couple of years ago (BBC 2). In a Colorado fire 2.3 million acres had been burned (BBC 3). That land could have been saved if the use of prescribed burns had been in the area.
The reason for this is we have been having more wildfires then ever before. A big contribution to the natural disasters of this world is the ecosystem. When the air is highly polluted, the risk of things like wildfires rise. We are only raising that risk by adding more pollution to the air with prescribed fires. These fires are dangerous. They are starting to get out of control too often. By trying to reduce the risk of wildfires, we are only creating
Would you believe me if I told you that many people say the Great Chicago Fire, a fire which destroyed 17,000 structures, left 100,000 people homeless, killed 300 people, and caused about $200 million in damages was the best thing that happened to Chicago? Chicago changed as a result of this fire in three ways; fire codes/laws, organization of buildings, and economic development and population growth.
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...
I didn 't had any trouble trying to search the internet since I had access to a computer and internet connection in my house and school. Trying to look for a source to start searching didn 't gave me trouble either since I had a list of sources in hand. The first article that I explored was called (“Wildfires”) from the National Geographic Website. In the article I learned that depending on the weather conditions wildfires can have different reactions. For example in the article they stated that “Uncontrolled blazes fueled by weather, wind, and dry underbrush, wildfires can burn acres of land and consume everything in their paths in mere minutes” (“Wildfires”). I also learned the good effects that wildfires has on the environment. “naturally occurring wildfires are fundamental in nature as they return nutrients to the soil by burning dead trees, plants, and land. They also act as disinfectant by removing poisoning plants, insects, and all soft of dangerous things” (“Wildfires”). That 's the information that I learned from the article, and while it wasn 't much I did manage to find key information. Next I visited two more websites. The first one was actually a online magazine (“Into The Wildfire”) from The New York Times Magazine. The first thing that I notice was how clean, organized, and simple this online magazine was. it did however had a big flaw, it only concentrated on the way firefighters deal with wildfires, and didn 't
The problem of Coal fires is not limited to Centralia, Pennsylvania, however. It is a problem that has caused major difficulties both in other areas of the United States (like Colorado) and also other parts of the world. In Indonesia, for instance, a series of forest fires in 1982 ignited a series of coal fires, 106 of which the government was able to extinguish, leaving 159 that are still raging to this very day. (Amos) A coal fire in Jharia, India, that had already caused the government to relocate the town’s population, destroyed a riverbank, unleashing a rush of water in the underground mines that drowned 78 coal workers. By some estimates, fires that rage in the northern coal belt of China burn something like 200 million tons of coal each year. (Krajick)
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.
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...
Due its size, different parts of Australia are prone to bushfires at certain times as a result of widely varied fire seasons. This is due to the different weather patterns.
The Forest fire is occurring very frequently nowadays, reasons for it are a heavy increase in global warming and an increase in temperature.