A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that burns in the wildland vegetation, often in rural areas. Wildfires can burn in forests, grasslands, savannas, and other ecosystems, and have been doing so for hundreds of millions of years. They are not limited to a particular continent or environment. Wildfires can burn in vegetation located both in and above the soil. Ground fires typically ignite in soil thick with organic matter that can feed the flames, like plant roots. 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. Surface fires, on the other hand, burn in dead or dry vegetation that is lying or growing just above the ground. Parched grass or fallen leaves often fuel surface fires. Crown fires burn in the leaves and canopies of trees and shrubs. I thought that wildfire was bad.
Risk to vegetation will depend on the fire regime as well as the characteristics of the plants and trees exposed to a particular fire. The likelihood of a plant being killed by fire depends on a combination of time and temperature. High, sustained temperatures are most likely to result in plant mortality especially when several different parts of the plant have been injured. Trees are often able to survive as long as the fire does not spread into the canopy. Sometimes plants and trees survive the fire only to succumb later to disease, fungus Fires can also kill diseases and insects that could otherwise destroy many plants. Other plants rely on fires to remove debris from the forest floor to reduce competition for growth and allow more access to light. The extra nutrients provided by the sun are essential for young trees trying to compete and for established trees to grow healthy and strong. s or insects due to their decreased resistance caused by injuries sustained in the fire.
Burns and breathing issues from smoke are two of the most common health impacts for wild animals fleeing fires. While some animals manage to escape with only mild burns to their fur or feathers, others are not so lucky, enduring deep burns over large portions of their bodies. During a wildfire, no animal is safe. As vegetation burns, the homes of wild animals are destroyed as they flee from the fire, many not moving fast enough to escape. Meanwhile, livestock on farms and companion animals are often left behind as people flee to fend for themselves. Given the burning of habitats, the destruction of old growth and changes to the ecosystem, it’s no surprise that many animals are displaced. As native habitats burn, animals are forced to find new places to live. Oftentimes, those places are uncomfortably close to existing human populations, leading to conflict. When fire destroys the landscape, it also destroys the homes of many animals. Loss or contamination of shelter, water, and food are the immediate effects on wildlife following a fire. As such, animals are forced to move elsewhere in search of sustenance and new territory.
The economic costs in this analysis include: diminished real estate values, lost income, damage to watersheds and aquifers, insurance payouts, timber loss, property and infrastructure damage, electricity costs, evacuation costs, federal wildfire suppression costs, school and learning losses related to wildfires, insurance premium increases, and tourism loss. The health costs of wildfires accounted for in this analysis include direct deaths and injuries from wildfires, costs from short and long-term exposure to wildfire smoke, and psychological costs. The immense cost of wildfires—both the human toll and the economic damages—requires government action. At the federal level, investments from the Inflation Reduction Act to combat climate change will cut down on the greenhouse gas pollution that is a root cause of these larger wildfires. Additionally, improving the aging U.S. energy grid, especially through modernized transmission lines, can reduce the risk of wildfires ignited by electricity infrastructure.
Wildfires will continue to affect source water quality resulting in increasing treatment, maintenance and operating costs. Therefore, forest and watershed managers and water suppliers have to be well informed about wildfire impacts so as to develop mitigation strategies to build resiliency to wildfire in water supply. Recommended strategies to be fully developed and implemented, they should collect substantial information about magnitude and timing of post-fire impacts. But the bottom line is that wildfire impacts should be incorporated into routine planning, protection and operations of forests watersheds and water sources. As wildfires are growing in scale and duration, and increasing numbers of communities are affected, we need a clearer understanding of how wildfires affect economies and communities. Wildland fire impacts are often described in terms of lives threatened, structures and homes lost or damaged, overall suppression costs, and damage to the natural resource base on which many rural communities rely.
Comments