Forest Fires: Meaning, Causes, Effects and Solutions | Homework Joy 

Forest Fires or wildfires are uncontrollable blazes. It occurs due to different types of weather, dry underbrush, and wind which burn acres and take over everything in their paths. An estimate of 100,000 forest fires occurs in the USA every year. Around 72,400 wildfires cleared an average of seven acres of US land each year. Global warming due to greenhouse emissions is forecast to increase damaging forest fires over the next several decades. 

 

Causes of the Forest Fires

Various factors cause wildfires. Some of them are :

 

Humans 

Humans are the major cause of wildfires in the USA. Most of the fires are caused by the cigarette butts left on the land and unmonitored. Around 90% of the Forest Fires in the United States are due to humans. 

 

Mother Earth 

Mother earth is responsible for 10%of Forest Fires in the United States. It is caused due to lightning and volcanic eruptions. Lightning produces a spark that can set a forest fire. On the other hand, the hot lava erupted from volcanoes is also one of the reasons for it. 

 

Effects of Forest Fires 

Now let’s learn about the effects of forest fires. 

 

1. Wildfires take away homes of the wildlife as well as forest vegetation. All of the inhabitants of wildlife are found homeless. People often lose their houses if the fires are close enough to the human’s region. Millions of dollars are spent repairing the damages. 

 

2. The soil in the wildlife area destroys. When a fire hits the soil, it becomes too hot, and all of those nutrients are gone for good.

 

3. Animals living in the forest lose their lives. It is one of the reasons why animals become extinct. 

 

4. Trees and plants are burnt as well. Trees and plants help to provide oxygen. With no plants and trees, the animals that survived no longer have anything to eat.

 

5. Large amounts of smoke released in the air cause air pollution.

 

Solutions to prevent Forest Fires 

It is important to know about the solutions to prevent wildfires. 

 

1. If you are a cigarette smoker, make sure that you don’t smoke cigarettes where you are not supposed to. 
2. Make sure that you do not burn any substance while there are high winds as it increases the risk of catching forest fires. 
3. Avoid using combustible materials that are prone to catch fires. 

 

Let’s pledge to protect our earth’s glory and home to our wildlife.