Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here; it is happening now ~ Barack Obama

There is one issue that will define the contour of this century more dramatically than any other and that is the urgent threat of changing climate. Climate change has threatened large numbers of threats to the wildlife. Climate change reduces the survival rate of many species by reducing the availability of food and habitat. One of the current problems this world is facing is wildfires, which are interfering with the development of wildlife and biodiversity. The climate has been changing for a long time, but we only became aware of it in the last century. We noticed climatic change and its impact on human life during the last century. We began investigating climate change and discovered that the earth's temperature.

Wildfires are getting bigger and more destructive, and all this happening is because of climate change, which has intensified droughts, decreased the mountaintop snowpack and increased lightning strikes that increase the risk of bigger fires in dry forests. The climate is changing globally, and it has drastic effects on the environment and biodiversity. The climate is changing because of various reasons like temperature, soil moisture, the presence of trees and herbs. But other than these, human activities have also played a major role in increasing the temperature of Earth, which has led to wildfires in different parts of the world, like lighting cigarettes in the forest and leaving some fuel in the forest. About 85% of fires erupted in the United States is because of various human activities like campfires unattended, burning of debris and negligently discarded cigarettes, vehicle malfunctions and crashing.

Rising temperatures are a key factor in climate change. The rise in temperature leads to global warming, which is a major issue. An increase in temperature removes moisture from the soil and makes plants and vegetation more flammable. As heat and drought continue with rising of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. We expect more wildfires in recent years. According to Jim Yong King, president of The World Bank:  “We have to wake up to the fierce urgency of now”

The Australian coast and rainforest of Brazil has faced unrestrained wildfire, shrouded by wildfire and destroyed by burning vegetation. During 2019-2020, Australia faced a horrible wildfire crisis where fire nearly turned 3 billion animals to dust while the entire population of 100 plant species burned. Turkey has also faced the worst fire in history, according to Tayyip Erdogan. This fire turned 175000 hectares into ashes. We are losing a huge amount of flora and fauna in these wildfires across the globe. As a result of climate change, California continues to see extended wildfire seasons. The thing which is highly affected by the fire is our biodiversity and mainly our environment. 

 The impact of a fire does not end after extinguishing the fire. The fire leaves dangerous effects on human beings and also on animals. The charred habitats and smoke lingering in the air is unhealthy to breathe. After collecting data from 749 cities across 43 countries, it showed that the wildfire is a cause of 33,000 deaths annually. Fire does not only affect the life and health of those people living near the affected area, it affects the property, infrastructure and public health. Fires are producing a large number of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon and different aerosols, which are increasing the temperature of the earth and becoming a factor in promoting global warming. There is a record-breaking increase in the frequency of temperatures in 2021 according to the United Nations Environment Program.

We need to take suitable measures to control this fire. We cannot stop a fire from happening. It is an impossible and self-defeating task, but we can take it, to minimize the aftereffects of fire, like saving people from fire, saving property. To minimize the effects of wildfire, we need a proper policy. By stopping people from making houses near fire-prone zones can actually prevent the life of people. Increasing the space between trees and bushes can actually stop fire from spreading at a rapid rate. By making a policy of providing more resources to firefighting teams and also for fire prevention technologies. One of the major presentations which can be done at an individual level is removing fuel and dried bushes from the forests, which are a common source of fire. Developing recovery plans before and after the start of a fire and limiting habitat damage is essential to coping with this issue of wildfire. 

To make our earth suitable to live on, we must save biodiversity and the ecosystem. The temperature of earth can be decreased by planting more trees with proper planning. By stopping or decreasing the production of those products which are responsible for the production of aerosols and greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. By educating people about how to manage their personal things like matchboxes, lighters, cigarettes and fuels during camping. The world is trying to attract people’s attention towards the safety of the environment, conservation of biodiversity and problems related to climate change. The United Nation also set 17 sustainable development goals for 2015 to achieve till 2030.Its 13th goal, which is to take urgent action to fight climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy, is related to climate change.

The decade from 2010-2019 was the hottest decade reported in history. Climate change is affecting every community, every nation across the world. Climate change does not impact only the national economies of countries, it affects the lives and livelihood of people, especially in vulnerable countries. Climate change has increased the frequency of natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods and drought. In 2019, at least 120 of 153 developing countries will formulate different national adaptation plans to combat the problem of climate change.

 According to president of France Francois Hollande: “We have a single mission: to protect and hand on the planet to next generation.”

References

Burke, M., et al. (2021). "The changing risk and burden of wildfire in the United States." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(2).

Fallah-Ghalhari, G., et al. (2019). "Impacts of climate changes on the maximum and minimum temperature in Iran." Theoretical and Applied Climatology 138(3): 1539-1562.

Spracklen, D. V., et al. (2009). "Impacts of climate change from 2000 to 2050 on wildfire activity and carbonaceous aerosol concentrations in the western United States." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 114(D20).

Tang, R., et al. (2021). "Interannual variability and climatic sensitivity of global wildfire activity." Advances in Climate Change Research 12(5): 686-695.

Ward, R. D., et al. (2016). "Impacts of climate change on mangrove ecosystems: a region by region overview." Ecosystem Health and Sustainability 2(4): e01211.

About the Author: Hadia Fatima has done her Bachelors of Science in Biotechnology from Government College University Faisalabad. She is highly passionate to motivate youth to save the environment. She is from Pakistan and tries to engage readers through the best and latest information containing blogs.