Wildfires: Growing Public Ignorance
- thinksunshine2019
- Sep 28, 2022
- 3 min read
Ever since the beginning of California's drought in 1920s, not only did the water shortage got worse but wildfires and the ignorance toward climate change started to become the norm, which shouldn't be accepted.
Wildfires are 85% caused by human behavior and 97% of those impacted residential areas. Human sparked wildfires often caused by cigarettes, sparklers, open campfire, illegal fireworks and electrical equipment malfunctioning. Public ignorance on what can cause wildfires as depicted in the artistic expression above is the main problem why wildfires are so rampant. Climate change and dried hillsides are only catalyst to wildfires. Our current effort to mitigate wildfires is very minimal as illustrated by a little wrecking ball crane trying to breakdown the wall of ignorance. Public continues happily with their lives not understanding the root cause of wildfires behind the wall. A wall that was fortified by media outlets bricks focusing more on covering the devastation instead of increasing public awareness on the cause of wildfires and how to mitigate them. This problem will only get worse if no one will take action and the first step is awareness of the ignorance so that we can find ways to mitigate the possibilities of starting a wildfire.
Root Cause of Wildfires
Typically, arson and debris burning in the areas where vegetation is close to residential areas, are the leading cause of wildfires. However, what public keep on hearing from media outlets is how the dry and hot weather would increase the risk of wildfires. Although it's true that dry and hot weather increase the risk of wildfires, but they only act as a catalyst, not the root cause of the issue.
What about Lightning?
There are 2 components of lightning: leader and stroke. Leader is the probing feeler sent from the clouds, while stroke is the actual lightning bolt that we often see in a thunder storm. Typically there are 2 types of lightning: cold lightning and hot lightning. Cold lightning is a return stroke with intense electrical current but with a relatively short time duration. Hot lightning is a return stroke with low voltage, thus less intense but with a longer time duration.
Fires usually can be started with unusually long-lasting hot lightning bolts. This means that very rare that lightning could start wildfires.
What about Controlled Burn or Prescribed Fire?
Fire plays a vital role in maintaining certain ecosystems. Controlled burn or prescribed fire refer to the controlled application of fire by fire experts under specified weather conditions that help restore health of ecosystems.
Prescribed fires help reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfires by:
Safely reducing the excessive amounts of brush, shrub and trees are they are the fuel for wildfires
Encouraging new growth of native vegetation
Maintaining many plants and animals whose habitats depends on periodic fire.
What can I do to Help?
The most helpful first step that we can do is to spread the word that human caused 85% of wildfires in the U.S., not mother nature. This awareness will prompt public to act more responsibly to reduce the risk of wildfire. The following are tips to reduce the risk of wildfires:
Follow all local regulation and laws regarding burning fire and fireworks.
Keep up to date with weather forecast so that you don't burn any substance during dry and high wind condition.
Light fire only in areas where fire can easily be controlled.
Do not burn any materials that are combustible in nature.
Put cigarettes completely out before disposing of it.
Teach children precautions and rules of camping and being outdoors.
Learn more about wildfire by visiting https://www.nps.gov/articles/wildfire-causes-and-evaluation.htm#:~:text=Nearly%2085%20percent*%20of%20wildland,and%20intentional%20acts%20of%20arson.
Please leave a comment or share your experience and tips on mitigating wildfires.
Good information on wildfires.