Our World

Wildfires in Australia

A smoky haze can be seen from space, covering a section of the Australian state of Victoria, where several wildfires, at last count 18, are raging along the southeast coast, northwest of Melbourne. Nine people have died, 24 schools have been closed, and many small towns, cities, and farms are considered to be in danger. Thousands of firefighters, along with aircraft and heavy machinery, have been working to control the blaze.

For any development, anywhere in the world, natural hazards are a cause for concern. Now, before anyone posts a comment saying, "we should work to put this fire out," you have to realize that wildfires are a natural process and the environment needs them. Small, frequent fires clear the ground in forests, burning near the ground, and are over quickly, without killing all of the older trees, but if we interrupt the process and there aren't enough fires, an excess of saplings, many of which should have burned before, crowd the woods and are now tall enough to pass the flames into the crowns of the largest trees. The leaves, dead wood, and other junk on the forest floor builds up so that a small spark can cause massive blazes. Many forest services do controlled burns to limit these dangers. The point is, fires can be monitored, but should be allowed to run their course. If possible, they will try to keep the flames from cities and houses, but it's just an unavoidable risk of building in areas like this; any time you're playing with fire, you're liable to get burned.

In the hot southern-Australian summers, wildfires are apparently commonplace, but I was surprised to read that more fires are started by people, through agricultural burning, accidents, and arson, than by natural causes. Humans have messed up the process entirely by tapping resources, clearing and developing land, etc. and now starting the fires.

"Thousands Battle Fires in Australia..."

posted by Anonymous @ 12/08/2006 09:41:00 AM