Natural Disasters – Wild Fire

A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that usually combusts in the wildland vegetation, often in rural areas.
Wildfires can burn in forests, grasslands, savannas, and other ecosystems and are not limited to a particular continent or environment.
Wildfires have the ability to burn vegetation located both in and above the soil.

Ground fires generally ignite in soil which is thick with organic matter that can feed the flames, like plant roots.
Ground fires can smoulder for a long time (up to an entire season) until favourable conditions become available for them to grow to a surface or crown fire.

Surface fires, on the other hand, burn in dry or dead vegetation that is lying on the ground or growing just above the ground.
Parched grass or fallen leaves are the common fuel for surface fires.
Crown fires are those that burn in the leaves and canopies of trees and shrubs.

Wildfires can be caused by either human activity or a natural phenomenon such as lightning.
In about 50% of wildfires recorded, it is not known how they started and they can happen at any time or anywhere.

It is often the weather conditions which play a deterministic role on deciding how much a wildfire grows.
Wind, high temperatures, and little rainfall can all cause trees, shrubs, fallen leaves, and limbs to be dried out and be primed to fuel a fire.
Topography plays a major role as well since flames burn uphill faster than they burn downhill.

Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions are creating warmer, drier conditions.
This result in increased drought, and a longer fire season which are boosting the chances of a wildfire.
Countries like Brazil are burning swaths of forest area to clear land for cultivation which can result in forest fires.
Fire can be created when a source of fire like naked flame, cigarette or bidi, electric spark etc which if used in forest area can result in wildfire.

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Natural Disasters-Wildfire