Fires are a serious problem for the planet. They can destroy natural habitats, which are home to 80% of all species on Earth. This summer has been a particularly difficult one for forests around the world. The rapid spread of forest fires, which are threatening endangered species and their habitat, is making it hard for firefighters to contain the flames.
Forest fires are burning nearly twice as many trees as they did just two decades ago, according to a study from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery (UMD’s GLAD) laboratory.
- Wildfires have been raging in Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and France. Nearly 660,000 hectares of European land have already been destroyed by fires this year, according to EU data. The scale of the destruction this year would be the worst since records began in 2006.
- The fire season continues to be steady with 14 large uncontained fires across the United States. As of Aug. 30, 48,057 fires have already burned a total of 7,330,874 acres. This is above the 10-year average of 40,463 fires and the average acreage of 5,252,829.
- The day after the fire broke out on July 14 in Canada, nearly 1,999 hectares (4,942 acres) were burned. Local authorities issued evacuation orders for 24 property owners close to the fire, while residents of several First Nation reserves were told to flee the area.
- In China, this year, Chongqing experienced a record-breaking amount of high temperatures and droughts. Forest fires have been burning since August 17, and fires have been occurring in many places continuously. More than 20,000 people, from professional rescue teams to social volunteers, have joined the operation to help put out the fire. By August 26, all open fires had been put out by these brave people. One firefighting officer said: "The task was challenging and vehicles could not pass through the exclusion zone. Thanks to Chongqing citizens’ motorcycles, firefighters were transported to the front line, significantly improving firefighting efficiency, which is the key to victory. " He also emphasized the need to scientifically organize firefighting. It includes the main leaders should be in the front of the command, and the important and sensitive fires should be intervened in advance to minimize the risk of fighting and disaster losses; Give full play to the role of professional command, coordinate the rescue forces of all parties, strengthen the composition of ground personnel and air forces, improve the efficiency of fire fighting, and strictly prevent the re-emergence.
But why are wildfires so hard to put out? The answer doesn't lie in how they burn.
- They seem to be fairly easy to start. But wildfires are an incredibly complex system that can quickly get out of control if left unchecked.
- Wildfires burn much hotter than normal fires. The average temperature of a wildfire is 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 Celsius). That's about the same as lava from an erupting volcano! It takes a lot of water to put out a fire like that.
- They can spread quickly through dry vegetation. This makes them difficult to contain with water or dirt barriers alone.
- They often burn underground as well as above ground because they consume the oxygen that would normally be present in soil or vegetation.
- Wildfires also tend to occur during periods of drought when there is less moisture available to soak up heat energy from burning materials.
These types of conditions make it harder for firefighters to control wildfires even when they do have access to large quantities of water or other resources needed for effective firefighting techniques such as dousing flames with water sprayed from trucks or airplanes overhead.
There's no easy way to say this: the world's forests are under attack, and it's time that we take action before they are completely destroyed. Whether it's forest fires that are destroying our arboreal homes or deforestation that is stripping away at their existence, it's obvious that we need to do something to save them before it is too late. The more we care for our land, the greater things there will be. So let's help out and save Earth as soon as possible!