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.
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