Do Wildfires Occur Naturally?
The answer is YES. Wildfires are a natural occurrence within some forest ecosystems; over recent years, the wildfires have become more extreme and widespread. Even in tropical rainforests, where fires are atypical, wildfires became particularly damaging, which is a worrying fact that requires a solution. The favorable conditions for more frequent, more extensive, and higher-intensity wildfires result from climate change. Therefore, researchers and governments must develop an efficient plan to manage these risks together.
Fires are a natural phenomenon that forests have evolved to withstand. Regardless of the degree of damage, forests in most cases re-grow. However, high intensity fires may cause such severe damage that the soil may take years or even decades to regenerate.
How Does a Wildfire Start?
The ignition of a wildfire depends on three elements: fuel, and oxygen. On a hot day, when drought conditions peak, a tiny spark has the potential to create a large wildfire across hundreds of miles of forest. As previously mentioned, wildfires can occur naturally from the sun or a lightning strike. Wildfires can also ignite from human error, such as lit cigarette butts, unextinguished campfires, improperly burned debris, and arson.
Re-growth Process
After a fire, pioneer species are the first to adapt to the changing landscape. The hardy plants undergo adaptations making them suitable to compete in the post-fire environment. For example, Blanket Flower seeds could germinate, take root after a fire, and remain viable in the soil for up to two years. As hardier species grow, they create the conditions needed for the species from the original forest to return. In some Canadian woods, the Aspens are among the first trees that return after fires, which allows the Black Spruce trees to take root in the shades. Eventually, the original species out-compete the pioneers and become dominant. As a result, the newly rejuvenated forest is like the one before the fire. The cycle repeats itself since the accumulation of leaf litter provides the fuel necessary for another fire.
Harmful Effects of Wildfires
Wildfires affect the entire ecosystem and have an immediate and long-term effect on the quality of the rivers, lakes, streams, and other water bodies. Additionally, the fire is devastating for the vegetation, and therefore the ground’s soil becomes hydrophobic and prevents water absorption. The inability to absorb the excess water leads to the transportation of debris and sediment into larger bodies of water. Furthermore, valuable, and essential waterways and resources are polluted with heavy metals from ash and soil: post-fire flash floods and stormwater runoff are the most noticeable consequence resulting from wildfires.
Wildfire’s impact on vegetation mainly depends on the temperature and time of year of its occurrence. For instance, small trees and plants on the forest floor are the most affected and often destroyed by wildfires, while the adult trees may survive when the fire does not spread into the tree canopy. The flames engulf many animal species’ homes and food sources and make them susceptible to diseases, fungus, and insect invasion due to reduced resistance and sometimes threaten their survival.
Poor air quality is another consequence of wildfire, both immediate and long-term. As forests burn, large amounts of smoke are released into the atmosphere. The smoke particles are made up of gases and water vapor that have the potential to travel great distances and pose a severe threat to human health. Smoke particles can easily enter the human respiratory system and become lodged deep within the lungs. This makes breathing difficult and puts stress on the heart.
The Ecological Benefits of Wildfires
While wildfires have immense destructive power, there are several ecological benefits to fires. Namely, some plant species require regular burns to spread their seeds and grow again. Fires effectively destroy diseases and insects that may harm the livelihood of plants. Also, fires remove the excess debris from the forest floor and allow the nutrients from sunlight to reach understory plants. Low intensity and controlled fires clear underbrush and prevent future fires from spreading.
The new grasslands created after wildfires provides food for grazing species. The continual cycle of life in ecology promotes growth and allows change in the ecosystems. As plants and vegetation die, new life begins, and the environment heals.
What Do the Numbers Tell Us About a Catastrophic Year of Wildfires?
The 2021 wildfire season involved highly damaging wildfires in multiple countries: Algeria, Cyprus, India, Israel, Russia, Turkey, France, Greece, Italy, Canada, Mexico, United States, Argentine Patagonia, and Australia. Notably, the wildfire season is substantially more prominent than in previous history. The historic droughts and heat waves strengthen the intensity and the scale of the fires.
According to the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center, 7.1 million acres were burned in 2021, compared with 10.1 million in 2020.
Scientists explain that the season of high fire threat is stretching longer and longer. Following the annual statistics, wildfires were primarily confined to four months. Recent years have proved that everything changes, and extreme fire threats are observed throughout the year. According to the statistics, by June 2021, close to 29,000 wildfires had ignited across the U.S., which is approximately 4000 times higher than average years. The drought, extreme heat, and reduced snowpack contributed to the severity and extremity of the fires.
Wildfires and Landscapes
Mega-blazes once were considered as a career highlight for firefighters. To deal with a fire that blackens more than 100,000 acres is a challenge that was a rare occurrence in the not-so-distant past. Still, many firefighters state that mega-blazes are becoming the norm and routine. During the summer months, fires of that magnitude occur weekly. As a result of record-breaking drought and unprecedented heatwaves, wildfires turn the landscapes into tinderboxes.
Fires deplete reserves, which has stressed the supply of firefighting resources. Intense fires require urgent action to protect the public, which in turn, raises the costs of emergency response. In 2021 alone, the cost of extinguishing wildfires in the U.S. was over $4.4 billion, according to the NIFC (U.S. National Interagency Fire Center), which is double the 10-year average for federal firefighting costs.
Strategies to Protect Ecosystems and the Environment
The extreme intensity of the 2021 fire season has raised the stakes. The catastrophic consequences forced governments to reassess their fire suppression strategies. Scientists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that current climate models show the continuing high trend greenhouse gas emissions could increase the risk of larger wildfires by six times in the next three decades.
Legislators have granted close to a $1 billion budget for wildfires prevention for the 2021 fiscal year and at least $200 million annually over the next 6 years. Additionally, NOAA’s budget request for the 2022 fiscal year included a $15 million increase for funding fire weather research that will give communities access to current weather models.