Forest Fire: Result of Human Act
A month back, Australia experienced the world’s most dangerous bush fire. Australia the world’s driest continent, and drought and bushfires are the daily occurrences. It has a history of severe bushfires. But the bushfire which was seen a month before, is termed as the world’s most dangerous bushfire by the fire chiefs. Almost sixty fires were burning across the country. Most of them were out of control and many people have lost their lives. The northern parts of Australia is experiencing extreme fires dangers. The fire started on September 6th and is still continuing. Over 49,00,000 acres have been burnt as of december 7. But thousands of acres are still burning. Most of them have lost their homes.
Similarly few months back, the lungs of our earth, Amazon was burning. Thousands of forest area got burnt. Amazon which is the largest forest in the world covers an area of 5.5 million km2. It is the home for millions of organisms, plants, trees, minerals etc. Over 10% of earth’s animal population lives in amazon. But thousands of forest area got burnt due to these fire, many lives have been lost fighting these fires. About 76000 fires was burning in amazon and there was an increase of over 80% over the same time period last year according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
The primary cause for this fire was deforestation. Trees are a major part of climate change, yet mass deforestation continues for short term gains leaving the world with long term harm. These fires are started by both naturally and manually. Naturally, fires are caused due to dried leaves and trees and this is also due to high temperature which is caused by climate changes. Manually, there are people starting fires to widen their living area and others are doing it in order to make more open land for crops. These deforestation are affecting our ecosystem badly. Animals are mainly affected by these forest fires.
Forest fires are always harmful for animals. They loose their home. Some animals will be badly injured and some lose their life. Large animals like deers, tigers, leopards, lions may escape from these fire, but small animals like rabbits, snakes, squirrels are sometimes not able to. Birds may fly away, but their nests and eggs would be burnt in fire. Even after months, we might forget it, but the real sufferers are animals. They are fighting for their survival. Their life becomes displaced as they lost their habitat. They have to struggle searching for food and a place to live. These fires also cause wildlife to be burnt, dehydrated and malnourished. In this situation, a lot of animals will die, from flames, heat from the flames, or smoke inhalation.
These fires could also change water chemistry to the point that it is not sustainable for life in the short term. Animals living in small water bodies will have strive to survive. Aquatic animals which need to stay partially above water in order to breathe, would be harmed. Hence we need to stop this deforestation. Forest fire is not just in amazon, but in many forests of the world. Many of our forests are still burning. So many lives have been lost fighting these fires. We are losing human lives, we are losing biodiversity, and we are losing precious time in the fight against climate change! Our forests are our responsibility. Our earth is our responsibility. Take action!!! If forests dies, we die!!!
Vidhisha Gauthami.G.P
