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Forest fires: causes, why they are more extreme and how to avoid them

2021-08-11T19:25:38.756Z


Forest fires are becoming more frequent and affect more areas of the planet. Its causes and the reason why they are more extreme


Wildfires continue to affect Northern California 0:55

(CNN Spanish) -

Forest fires wreak havoc in various areas of the planet.

Thousands of hectares devastated by fire, millionaire material damage, injured people and in some cases deaths, forced evacuations due to the advance of the flames are just some of the devastating consequences.

But what causes a forest fire?

“Fire is a fundamental component of a healthy forest, as it allows it to reproduce, develop and become stronger,” Javier Sierra, spokesperson for the Sierra Club and an expert on environmental issues that impact the Latino community, explained to CNN.

"But the climate crisis changes this equation and makes fire a devastating factor for the planet's forests," he added.

"A good example is the western United States, where the drought extends over 93% of the territory, and in several areas it is already chronic," said Sierra.

This is how this city in California was after the Dixie fire 0:45

In that territory, the higher temperatures have caused the land to dry out more.

As Park Williams, lead author of the study and a professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, explained to CNN, human-caused warming of the planet has caused the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) to increase by 10% since the end of the 19th century.

This means that more evaporation occurs and they estimate that that effect will double by 2060.

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Data: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/24/weather/california-wildfires-climate-change/index.html

"Successive heat waves aggravate the situation by turning entire forests into tinder," explained Sierra.

"These heat waves are accentuated by a phenomenon called 'heat dome', which is formed due to a wide area of ​​high atmospheric pressure that traps warm air and compresses it by exaggerating its temperature."

  • PHOTOS |

    The most shocking images of the fires in Greece

“We saw this graphically and tragically in Northwest North America a few weeks ago.

Quillayute, WA, for example, reached 110o F, 45 more than its average temperature and 11 more than its previous record, "said the Sierra Club spokesperson.

And he highlighted: "Science assures us that without the climate crisis this extreme heat would have been 'virtually impossible'".

Extreme fires, the "new normal"

Extreme fires have become increasingly common.

Fire season lasts longer and starts earlier.

According to scientists, America's fire season lasts 73 days longer on average than it did in 1970. And fire burns twice as much American territory as it did three decades ago.

Bolivia and Peru are affected by forest fires 0:44

In the western United States, this is reflected in the fires that are currently ravaging the area.

For experts, it is due to a number of factors.

Among them, the fact that more people have moved west and are building houses in areas where there is a danger of fires.

Additionally, the fires have created their own weather, making them more explosive and difficult to predict.

  • This above-average wildfire season is projected to continue into September, or perhaps longer

But above all, climate change generates greater oscillations in the conditions that lead to these events.

Data: https://www.cnn.com/videos/weather/2018/08/03/why-wildfires-are-becoming-the-new-normal-tcal-orig.cnn/video/playlists/atv-store- top-news /

The influence of climate change on fires

In fact, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released this week made clear that the man-made climate crisis worsens extreme weather across the globe.

According to the IPCC, the world is now 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels.

In the Paris Agreement, the limit of 1.5 degrees had been established as a critical threshold to avoid greater impacts.

Data: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2021/08/09/crisis-climatica-causas-cientificos-trax/

“The report concluded that human activity changes the planet's climate with unprecedented and irreversible consequences.

These consequences disproportionately impact low-income communities of color, like us Latinos, ”Sierra said.

The voracity of fire in California is seen from space 0:46

"Global warming is extending springs and summers alarmingly.

In the western United States, for example, the fire season has increased by 75 days in recent decades, due to less snow accumulation in winter and greater evaporation the rest of the year, ”he explained.

According to the specialist, the population most affected by these fires is Latino.

"The risQ ​​firm, which analyzes climate risks, concluded that we Latinos face the greatest risks from these fires," Sierra said.

“RisQ indicates that we are twice as likely to live in the areas most threatened by fires than the rest of the population.

In contrast, for white residents, in the last decade, their risk of suffering the consequences of a fire has decreased ”.

“A combination of factors, such as housing shortages and lack of financial resources, forces Latino families to live in the areas most prone to fires,” Sierra explained.

And he added: "The report reveals that between 2010 and 2019, the number of Latinos who have moved to those areas increased a staggering 223%, while the white population in those areas decreased 32% in the same period of time."

Forest fires, a global threat

But the fire doesn't just affect the United States.

In recent weeks, several fires have caused serious damage in Greece, North Macedonia, Turkey, Algeria, Italy and Cyprus.

The IPCC report detailed that some 38 climatic conditions that promote forest fires have become more likely in southern Europe over the last century.

Between 1979 and 2013, "the global combustion area affected by long fire seasons doubled, and the average duration of the fire season increased by 19%", although on a global scale, the total area burned decreased between 1998 and 2015 mainly due to changes in land use, according to the IPCC.

Data: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/11/world/wildfires-climate-change-arson-explainer-intl/index.html

What can be done to prevent fires and mitigate their consequences

For the IPCC, it is "unequivocal" that humans caused the climate crisis.

The report concluded that "widespread and rapid changes" have already occurred, some of them irreversible.

But the most important message left by the recent IPCC report is a call to action to prevent the climate crisis from becoming even worse than it already is.

In that sense, Sierra highlighted some actions that can be carried out to prevent forest fires from causing greater damage and becoming more extreme.

“Build fire fighting structures, create adequate and defensive spaces around the structures.

Establish strategic firebreaks near communities, avoid building homes and other structures in places prone to fires ”.

Those are some of the measures that Sierra indicated.

In addition, the specialist argued that "the federal government [of the United States] must dedicate funds to communities vulnerable to fires, especially in the border areas between the forest and the communities."

Finally, Sierra said: “And something really crucial: we have to act now to reduce the fossil fuel pollution that is destroying the atmosphere, causing the climate crisis that fuels natural disasters such as droughts, fires and floods, and destroying the health of millions of people around the planet ”.

This article includes reports from Uriel Blanco, John Keefe, Curt Merrill, Christina Walker, Ivana Kottasová, and Jennifer Gray 

Forest fires

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-08-11

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