All of us have heard of a wildfire before and some of us have even experienced this phenomenon. Nowadays, due to climate change and human interaction this phenomenon has taken destructive dimensions and is a threat to ecosystems and human lives. However, it was not always like this.
Fire maintaining nature’s balance
Fires are a natural part in a forest’s lifecycle. A lot of species need fire for reproduction. One of the most famous examples is the pine tree where the seed is protected inside a pine cone which is often covered in pitch. This material must be melted for the seed to be released. Furthermore, it is natural for a forest to accumulate dead organic matter. Without fires to take care of this matter, some animals lose connection with the soil or to those who are underground are unable to contact the atmosphere and new plants are unable to grow because they are being “chocked” by the material on top of them.
As weird as it may seem, some animals, even endangered ones require fire to survive. Some of these animals use specific type of plants as food source. These plants require fire in order to thrive and maintain a balance within their ecosystem. Moreover, it should be stated that for the regions where wildfires usually occur, animals have adapted to that phenomena and can escape freely by either burying underground or simply fleeing. This can also work as a defence mechanism against alien species which are not used to live under forest fire conditions.
The evolution of fire through climate change and modern era
Nonetheless, the nature of fire altered after climate change stepped in. The continuously increasing temperatures combined with the prolonged droughts are a chaotic combination which enhances the strength and the spread of fires. Also, wildfires nowadays are occurring way beyond the normal forest fire zones, even in areas within the artic circle or the wet tropics. Humans are trying to put an end to this phenomenon before it reaches uncontrollable levels but this is not always good. By putting out wildfires, the natural process of this phenomenon is eliminated and the balance disturbed. This may cause even more unprecedented fires in the future. Only this summer (2022) in the EU and the UK an area of more than 500000 hectares was burned, more than double of the amount of the previous decade average.
Hence, a question arises. Since we should not get in the way of natural balance but also, we cannot just stay idle while the fire rages, what should we do? Well. There are not a lot that can be done. Only prioritize life when the situation becomes dangerous. However, there were some propositions to try to imitate fire in a low scale, controlled areas. This could benefit nature’s balance and could prevent more dangerous scale fires from occurring. It is a risky scenario but apart from the current solutions which include mostly stopping fires after occurring, we should start considering preventing them before an y unfortunate scenarios happen again.
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