Every month it seems like there’s another ruinous wildfire going

around the world. For the most part, forest fire is synonymous
with disaster. Forest fires or wildfires are uncontrolled fires that
occur in nature, either naturally or as a result of human
interference or other natural disturbances, and may or may not
be suppressed by artificial measures of control; which, in most
cases results in widespread destruction. Forest fires have been
increasing drastically as a result of global warming, which has
resulted in longer, more severe droughts and more extreme
weather events. The smoke and carbon released into the
atmosphere from these fires also contribute to increased
warming and temperature rise. Especially the massive fires of
the Amazon forests in Brazil and Australia in the last two years.
Extensive wildfire disasters have an adverse effect on
communities, economies and ecosystems. More generally, they
contribute to air pollution and global warming. Carbon dioxide
(CO2) and other emissions and forest wildfires contribute
substantially to the global greenhouse effect, thus making floods
and droughts more likely to occur. They also produce health-
damaging smoke particles and black carbon. However, some
types of forest fires are beneficial to the environment- A
controlled burn is a wildfire that is started with the intention of
achieving a certain goal. Controlled burns that are well-planned
and managed can be extremely valuable to forest management,
in part because they can assist put out an out-of-control wildfire.
The technique is called backburning. However, this doesn’t
mean all intentional wildfires are beneficial. Many of the fires lit
purposely for agricultural and land clearing are ill-advised at
best and disastrous at worst. Fires of longer duration, increasing
intensity, higher frequency and highly inflammable nature are
all being linked to climate change. It's vital that these fires, as
well as the broader climate catastrophe, are addressed to prevent
natural disasters from becoming more frequent and severe
around the world.
Lately, great nations such as India have been hugely impacted
by wildfires. In Uttarakhand, over 1000 incidents of forest fire
were witnessed over the last numerous months. Since the
beginning of 2021, there has been a series of forest fires in
Dzuko Valley of Manipur-Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Simipal
National Park in Odisha faced major fire between February-end
and early March, Bandhavgarh Forest Reserve of Madhya
Pradesh, and Gujarat, including in wildlife sanctuaries. In India,
forest fires are most commonly noted during March and April,
when the ground has huge quantities of dry wood, logs, dead
leaves, stumps, dry grass and weeds that can make forests easily
go up in flames if there is a trigger. Under natural
circumstances, extreme heat and dryness, friction created by
rubbing of branches with each other also have been known to
initiate fire. Apart from India, California endured tremendous
complications due to wildfire. Wildfires erupted in California in
August after an "unprecedented outburst of dry lightning,"
according to NASA's Earth Observatory. At least ten lightning
complex fires have been reported this year. One reason could be
that more lightning storms are occurring as a result of climate
change. The Siberian Arctic suffered from major fires termed
“zombie fires.” In Australia, it is said to be one of the worst
wildlife disasters in modern history. The affected wildlife
includes 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million
birds and 51 million frogs approximately. Other variables
influencing wildlife death include smoke inhalation, heat stress
and dehydration, and greater competition for resources in their
new habitats, in addition to the immediate hazard of fires.
Since 2004, the FSI developed the Forest Fire Alert System to
monitor forest fires in real time. In its advanced version
launched in January 2019, the system now uses satellite
information gathered from NASA and ISRO.
Let us stand together and protect our planet.