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Nature - the ignition point

June 19, 2017 | Expert Insights

On June 17, a massive forest fire in central Portugal killed 60 people and left several injured. The Portuguese government has declared three days of national mourning in wake of the incident to honor the victims.

Forest fire in Portugal

Jorge Gomes, Portugal’s secretary of state for internal administration claimed that most of the people were burnt to death in their cars when they found themselves trapped by flames on the road between the cities of Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera.

Portugal has been experiencing severe heatwaves recently with temperatures rising up to 40 degrees centigrade in several regions.

This is the deadliest wildfire the region has witnessed in the recent years and the European Union has committed to assisting the Portugal authorities in overcoming the disaster. France and Spain have both sent aircrafts to help combat the fire.

Has wildfires increased over the years?

Global warming over the years has led to increase in atmospheric temperatures, thus affecting moisture and precipitation levels. These hot and dry conditions tend to increase the likelihood of wildfires that start either due to lightning strikes or by human error.

Rise in temperature leads to more evaporation, which in turn causes the atmosphere to draw more moisture from soils, hence making the land drier and more susceptible to forest fire. A warmer climate also leads to the melting of snow caps, which also cause the drying of soil. Pests are also known to make forest more susceptible to wildfire. Warmer conditions grant pests longer breeding cycles and faster reproduction.

Additionally, human activities like lodging and mining contribute as well. Wildfires are typically started through some kind of accident. In fact, something as trivial and careless as discarding a cigarette without stubbing it first can lead to forest fires. Whatever the reason that causes a fire, it is prevailing climatic conditions that makes it spread in an unprecedented manner.

In 1871, four of the worst fires in the US history took place at the same time. The great Chicago fire destroyed about a third of city’s valuation at that time and left more than 100,000 people homeless.

Due to increasing climatic changes, the 21st century is likely to witness more fires especially in boreal forests. Usually large wildfires ravaged in Alaska and Indonesia. This year Canada, California and Spain have been devastated by uncontrollable flames, with Portugal and France also witnessing massive blazes. In 2016, a wildfire destroyed an entire Australian town of Yarloop.

The economic costs from wildfires can be crippling. The property damage that has been caused between 2000 and 2009 has averaged $665 million per year. Environmental and health costs due to the wildfires are also monumental.

Recognizing that climate change is an imminent threat that needs to be addressed, the global community came together in 2015 to fight global warming through the historic Paris Agreement. However, in 2017, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who in the past has expressed ambivalence towards climate change announced that not only will the US withdraw from the agreement but it will cease all participation to that end. His announcement has been condemned by a substantial number of scientists and policy makers who note that this would prove detrimental in the long run. 

Assessment

In spite of the fact that majority in the scientific community have cautioned against the threat posed by global warming, governments across the world have still not done enough in terms of addressing this through clear changes in policy. The Portugal forest fire ought to serve as a wakeup call for those still on the fence about the subject.

It is imperative for the world community to come together to decrease the emission of greenhouse gases in order to prevent such tragedies from taking place in the future. Regions susceptible to forest fires should create buffer zones between human habitation and forest to prevent large scale damage.

Our assessment is that considering the climatic changes that is threatening the world, the nature can become a destructive weapon to human life in the future.