The high temperatures and the drought have contributed to the outbreak of forest fires around the world, which the weather conditions of this particularly hot summer have made it more difficult to control. Tens of thousands of hectares have been devastated and the UN agency for the environment has warned that this destruction will continue to increase, for which it has proposed that natural forests adapt to climate change and that conservation measures be taken for this. , protection and restoration that help prevent deforestation and fires.
Forest fires around the world
Fires proliferate all over the planet. In the United States, they have occurred in several states, including Alaska, where the fire destroyed more than 1.2 million hectares of land in mid-July. As reported by the British newspaper The Guardian, this year more than 2.2 million hectares of land have burned in the United States, which is about 70% more than the 10-year average.
In Russia, more than 6,000 forest fires had already started by the end of June, spreading across more than 809,000 hectares of land, most of them in the far east of the country and in Siberia. Europe has also been devastated by numerous forest fires, which have particularly affected France, Portugal, Spain and Greece, in which record temperatures have been reached coupled with prolonged periods of drought.
These types of catastrophes have drawn the attention of public opinion in Europe, where many press and news headlines have been dedicated to it on radio and television, as well as statements in this regard by politicians, such as the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez , who during a visit to Extremadura, an area severely affected by forest fires, said: “Climate change kills: it kills people; it also kills our ecosystem, our biodiversity, and it also destroys the things that we hold dear as a society: our homes, our businesses, our livestock.” However, fires in developing countries are much more frequent and devastating, as authorities often lack adequate firefighting equipment.
Factors Contributing to Wildfires
Knowing the causes of a fire is essential when taking measures to prevent it. Among the main risk factors are high temperatures, humidity and lack of moisture in trees, shrubs and grasses. Add to this longer, hotter, and drier summers and it becomes clear why forest fires have become more frequent and difficult to fight across the planet.
“Forest fires generate up to a third of carbon emissions from global ecosystems, a phenomenon that exacerbates climate change”
But there are many other factors that contribute to wildfires. “Deforestation, peat drainage, expansion or abandonment of agriculture, fire suppression, and week-to-week cycles such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation may exert a stronger influence than climate change on the increase or decrease in decrease in forest fires”, explains Robert Stefanski, head of the Commission for Agricultural Meteorology of the World Meteorological Organization.
In addition, the predictions of the United Nations Environment Program report, published earlier this year, are not good, since it indicates that extreme fires could increase up to 14% by 2030, 30% by the end of 2050, and 50% by the end of the century. The flames not only destroy nature and personal property and kill animals and humans, but they also emit CO2, which makes the climate crisis even worse.
“According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), forest fires generate up to a third of carbon emissions from global ecosystems, a phenomenon that exacerbates climate change,” says Stefanski. In fact, the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service showed that a record-setting 1,258.8 megatonnes of CO2 were released into the atmosphere last July, and more than half of that dioxide of carbon is attributed to fires in North America and Siberia.
Non-climatic factors also cause forest fires. “Agricultural companies, small farmers and cattle herders in many tropical areas cut down forests and intentionally set fires to clear fields and pastures. Cities, towns, and highways increase the number of fires that people start. Governments in many countries suppress fires, even natural ones, by producing unnatural accumulations of fuel in the form of coarse woody debris and dense stands of small trees. Fuel buildups cause particularly severe fires that burn in the treetops,” said Dr Mark Parrington, Copernicus Principal Scientist.
How to protect forests from forest fires
To prevent forest fires, it is necessary to adapt forests, both natural and those managed by the public or private sector, and for this, conservation, protection and restoration measures must be designed and approved. In the case of managed forests, adaptation options include sustainable forest management, diversification and adjustment of tree species composition to increase resilience, and management of increasing risks of pests, diseases and wildfires. .
A determining factor to avoid the loss or degradation of forests is to take into account the indigenous peoples, because they have their own techniques to prevent forest fires, including controlled burning, in which small controlled fires are carried out that serve to remove dead foliage that fuels forest fires. “Cooperation and inclusive decision-making with local communities and indigenous peoples, as well as recognition of their inherent rights, are integral to successful forest adaptation in many areas,” says Stefanski.
However, to achieve a reduction in forest fires, it is essential to address climate change in a comprehensive manner, which means that the governments of the countries commit to reducing emissions to reverse the increase in global temperature, as stated in the Paris Agreement.
It is also necessary to educate the population so that they become aware that a single ember from the barbecue or a lit cigarette butt can have catastrophic consequences in the forest; even the heat from a car’s exhaust pipe can set dry leaves on fire. And governments need to spend more money on firefighting equipment and professionals, and ensure that homes in high-risk areas have a high level of fire safety.
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