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There are many subcategories that fall under the general definition of a wildfire, including brush fires, bush fires, desert fires, forest fires, grass fires, hill fires, peat fires, vegetation fires, or veld fires. The presence of charcoal in fossil records show that wildfires have been present on earth virtually since plant life began.
Many wildfires are caused by lightning strikes, and many more are caused accidentally by human activity. The most noted areas on Earth for wildfire include the vegetated areas of Australia, Western Cape of South Africa and throughout the dry forests and grasslands of North America and Europe.
Wildfires in forests and grasslands in North America are particularly prevalent in the summer, fall and winter, especially during dry periods with an increase in dead fuels and high winds. Such periods are, in fact, called the wildfire season by fire control experts.
Wildfires are especially dangerous today, as rising earth temperatures combine with urban expansion into wooded areas creates the potential for tragedy.
In the U. A wildfire started by lightning or other causes no longer will simply burn a segment of forest or prairie, but may well also take dozens or hundreds of homes along with it.
Western U. Because of urban creep into existing forests, forest fires can often lead to property damage and have the potential to cause human injury and death. The term "wildland-urban interface" refers to the growing zone of transition between developing areas and undeveloped wildlands. It makes fire protection a major concern for state and federal governments. Human strategies for controlling wildfires have varied over recent decades, ranging from a "suppress at all costs" approach to a "allow all wildfires to burn themselves out" strategy.
At one time, human fear and aversion to fires caused professional fire control experts to make every effort to prevent fires and eliminate them immediately where they did occur. However, harsh lessons quickly taught that this approach caused a catastrophic build-up of brush, dense forests and dead vegetation that became the fuel for disastrously large fires when fires inevitably did occur. In Yellowstone National Park, for example, decades of attempting to prevent and quell all wildfires led to the inferno of , when more than a third of the park was consumed by fire after many years of prevention caused a catastrophic buildup of dry tinder in the forests.
This and other such instances cause the U. Forestry Service and other fire control agencies to radically rethink their strategies shortly thereafter.
The days when the iconic symbol of the Forestry Service, Smokey the Bear, painted an apocalyptic picture of forest fires are now gone. Electric faults from facilities or electricity plants near forests can also cause fires.
In some extreme cases, people have deliberately caused fires during hunting to corner wild animals while others burn forests to clear the way for agriculture or development activities.
Lastly, some people just start fires without any reason arson. Lightning is the biggest natural cause of forest fires. The different lightning strokes of varied electric voltages cause fire through directly igniting vegetation with high currents. Lightning fires are always more common immediately after dry seasons when vegetation is still dry. Lightning fires destroy more vegetation than human-caused fires. This is because lighting fires occur in remote areas far from human presence and are not notice in time, unlike fires caused by human activities.
Lightning caused fires also occur in rough terrains and dangerous places which makes it hard for fire suppression equipment and personnel to reach the fire on time.
In rare occurrences, volcanic activities such as eruptions and lava flow can cause fires which are difficult to put out because of the lava flow and other associated risks. In most cases, firefighters try to create a buffer zone where they can manage the fires.
Spontaneous combustion of dry leaves and vegetation may also be responsible for some fire outbreaks. This will definitely cause surface run-offs, leading to soil erosion. Inhalation of wildfire smoke leads to various toxic health effects on humans. This is because of the following toxic air pollutants released by wildfires:. These chemicals definitely take its toll on air quality and people breathing in that air may suffer from any number of conditions.
Smoke Exposure results in increased hospitalization into respiratory and cardiovascular wards. Other than that, some may develop asthma or previously asthmatic patients may develop exacerbation of their symptoms. This will definitely raise the frequency of visits to the hospital or more importantly, the emergency room.
There will also be increase in consumption of pharmaceuticals which have their own line of effects on the environment. Forest fires burn through hundreds of thousands of acres before they are put out. This results in loss of habitat and destruction for millions of animals! Most of those will become endangered. Animals already endangered would be at a much higher risk of extinction as well!
Australian bushfires have recently resulted in north of 1 Million animal deaths. Before we start discussing solutions of Forest fires, Remember, only you can prevent forest fires! You must make sure to follow all the local regulations and laws when it comes to lighting up fires, especially when igniting outdoors. These laws apply to specific dry -weather times of the year, so you should be on the lookout for those as well.
Particular knowledge of which materials and substances are allowed to be burned is also necessary. Reduce garbage in campfire places or any other materials that should not be burned. Use organic materials such as woods, leaves, or yard waste.
More importantly, burning everything willy nilly releases all kinds of chemicals into the air. These chemicals when breathed into lungs with air, could result in all forms of cancers. Many wildfires are caused by inattentive children near fires. Teach your children about the importance of forests and forest products. A great way would be to show them this article of how wildfires can cause devastating effects on these forests.
They must be educated about the rules and safety precautions during camping and should be told to stay away from fires. If a child does show keen interest towards fire, parents should consult a psychologist for the child to address those mental impulses.
My love for nature is not newfound. I have lived on the countryside for over a decade of my life where I realized how human activities impacted the environment. Later during my stint in medical school, I realized that many of our health concerns originate from neglecting our environmental responsibilities and this was just not sustainable in the long run.
Raising awareness, not locally but globally, was the mission. This led to the foundation of EnvironmentBuddy! Your email address will not be published. Environment Buddy. P Plants and Trees. What is a Wildfire? These wildland fires result in catastrophic damage to property and human life. Follow Rules Light Fires in Controlled Locations Stop Burning Combustible Products Educate your Children Major Types of Wildfires in the Forest When it comes to fires, they can be characterized in terms of how they started ignition , their physical properties, combustible materials and the effect of weather on that fire as well.
However, There are 3 major types of forest fires: 1. Crown fires Crown fires are also known as canopy fires or aerial fires, and for all the right reasons. Crown fires ignition depends on the following factors: Density of the suspended organic matter Canopy height Canopy continuity; how connected the canopy is or Forest Density Number of surface and ladder fires Moisture content in organic matter low moisture; slow fire Weather conditions during the blaze dry weather favors forest fires 2.
Surface fires Surface fires are also known as crawling fires.
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