Forest Fires56

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Forest Fires: Causes, Types,

Effects and precautions

The incidence of forest fires is increasing year by year.


Wildfires are a natural occurrence within some forest ecosystems, but in a
few years, the fires are becoming more extreme and widespread. Hotter and
drier weather caused by climate change and poor land management create
conditions favorable for frequent, larger, and high-intensity forest fires.

The fire in the Amazon rainforest during 2019-21 razed millions of acres of
the world’s largest tropical forest.

Forest fires
Forest fires can be defined as any uncontrolled and non-prescribed combustion
or burning of plants in a natural setting such as a forest, grassland, brushland,
or tundra, which consumes the natural fuels and spreads based on
environmental conditions (e.g., wind, topography).
Fuel, Oxygen, and heat sources help the spreading of wildfires:

 Fuel is any flammable material surrounding a fire, including trees,


grasses, brush, and even homes. The greater an area’s fuel load,
the more intense the fire.
 Air supplies the oxygen a fire needs to burn.
 Heat sources help spark the wildfire and bring fuel to
temperatures hot enough to ignite.

In nature, especially in higher latitude forests, fires help maintain a healthy


forest ecosystem by releasing important nutrients into the soil and aiding seed
dispersal.

In tropical forests, local and indigenous communities have used fire for ages
to clear land for agriculture.

Causes of forest fires


 Natural causes like lightning can set fires on trees which may be
spread by wind. Sometimes, High atmospheric temperatures and
dryness (low humidity) offer favorable circumstances for a fire to
start.
 Man-made causes are usually the ones that become dangerous.
Fire is caused when a source of fire like naked flame, cigarette,
electric spark, or any source of ignition comes into contact with
inflammable material.
 Other human-led causes are land clearing and other agricultural
activities, maintenance of grasslands for livestock management,
extraction of non-wood forest products, industrial development,
resettlement, hunting, negligence, and arson.

Types of forest fires


There are three basic types of fires:

Crown fires

 This type burn trees up their entire length to the top.


 They burn through the canopy, spreading from treetop to treetop.
 These are the most intense and dangerous forest fires as they are
very difficult to contain.
 It needs strong winds, steep slopes, and a heavy fuel load to
continue burning.

Surface fires

 They burn only surface litter like dried leaves, twigs, and grasses.
 These are the easiest fires to put out and cause the least damage to
the forest.
 Parched grass or fallen leaves often fuel surface fires.
Ground fires

 These are sometimes called underground or subsurface fires.


 They occur in deep accumulations of humus, peat, and similar
dead vegetation that become dry enough to burn.
 These fires move very slowly but can become difficult to fully put
out, or suppress.
 Ground fires can smolder for a long time, even an entire season,
until conditions are right for them to grow to a surface or crown
fire.
 Underground fires spread slowly and are hard to detect, hence they
may burn for months destroying the vegetative cover of soil.
Consequences of Wildfires

 Wildfires emit billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the


atmosphere which causes harm to climate and living organisms.
 This can also impact the carbon cycle due to excess CO2 and loss
of vegetation.
 High-intensity forest fires destroy flora and fauna.
 Wildfires can impact the economy as many families and
communities depend on the forest for food, fodder, and fuel.
 It burns down the small shrubs and grasses, leading to landslides
and soil erosion.
 It can change the microclimate of the area with unhealthy living
conditions
 Excessive forest fires can also add to the ozone layer
depletion process.

Consequences of warming earth and climate change


The effects of human-caused global warming are happening now, are
irreversible for people alive today, and will worsen as long as humans add
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

 We already see effects scientists predicted, such


as the loss of sea ice, melting glaciers and ice
sheets, sea level rise, and more intense heat
waves.

 Scientists predict global temperature increases


from human-made greenhouse gases will
continue. Severe weather damage will also
increase and intensify.
The potential future effects of global climate change
include more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought
in some regions, and an increase in the wind intensity
and rainfall from tropical cyclones.

Vulnerability

The youngest mountain ranges of Himalayas are the most vulnerable


stretches of the world susceptible to forest fires. The forests of Western
are more frequently vulnerable to forest fires as compared to those in
Eastern Himalayas. This is because forests of Eastern Himalayas grow
in high rain density. With large scale expansion of chirr (Pine) forests in
many areas of the Himalayas the frequency and intensity of forest fires
has increased.

Precautions

The followings are the important precautions against fire:


 To keep the source of fire or source of ignition separated from
combustible and inflammable material.
 To keep the source of fire under watch and control.
 Not allow combustible or inflammable material to pile up unnecessarily
and to stock the same as per procedure recommended for safe storage of
such combustible or inflammable material.
 To adopt safe practices in areas near forests viz. factories, coalmines, oil
stores, chemical plants and even in household kitchens.
 To incorporate fire reducing and fire fighting techniques and
equipment

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