EFFECT OF FOREST FIRE ON

ENVIRONMENT
_SHAIKH AWAIS_
AIM
 Forests are the lungs of the environment. They pump huge amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere which forms the basic need of almost all living forms
on the earth. These forests are depleting day-by-day with an alarming rate. Human intervention is causing degradation and depletion of forests in
many ways. Globally, every twenty minutes 1200 acres of forest are destroyed (Conservation International, 2000). Forest degradation is characterized
by a reduction in forest quality and biomass by an opening up of the canopy (Joshi, 2006).Change detection is the process of identifying change in the
state of an object or phenomenon by observing it at different times (Singh, 1989).

 It is extremely essential to monitor forest cover changes and find remedial measures to control deforestation after studying the reasons for forest
cover depletion. Hence, detecting deforestation and other types of Land Cover Change (LLC) and determining factors contributing to it are important,
as this could be a first step in controlling forest loss and is necessary in comprehensive forest management planning and formulation of appropriate
forest policy (Grainger, 1993).

 Forest cover in hilly terrain is important from the ecological considerations. Recognizing this fact, the National Forest Policy (1988) aims at maintaining
two thirds of the geographical area in hills of the country under forest and tree cover (SFR, 2009).

 A detailed report is published by FSI every two years to highlight the overall and state wise changes in the forest cover throughout India. But this report
does not show the changes in vegetation cover spatially. Only statistical facts and figures are not useful in identifying areas of change for further
planning of strategies for afforestation measures.

 Thus, the aim of this project is to study the trends in change of forest cover in Chamoli District from 1999 to 2010 and analyse spatially the positive or
negative change in the forest cover in the study area.
OBJECTIVES

 Presentation of the state-of-the-art of the 11 key

thematic areas addressed in the Conference and their
connection with the two regions
 Identification and description of common environmental
problems in the two regions for which research is needed
 Initiation and establishment of thematic networks
especially between member and associate states on the one
side and third counties on the other for constant exchange
of ideas, exchange of expertise, experiences and know-how.
 Presentation and analysis of the 6th Framework RTD
Programme related to sustainable development especially
in relation to marine science and technology. Promotion of
the actions under the 6th FP which could be used to
address, through research activities, the key policy issues in
the regions.
 Enhancement of the interaction and exchange of ideas
and know-how between researchers, end-users and policy
makers within the marine environmental sectors in the
Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region.
IMPORTANCE

 Many types of forests have evolved to utilize fire disturbances to maintain

ecosystem health and to regenerate. For example, many tree species actually
require fire to germinate their seeds, and forest fires return important nutrients to
the forest soil that was previously being stored in biomass. Wildfires help to clear
out dead wood and other materials that would otherwise have taken much longer
to break down and provide soil nutrition for the next generation of trees and
plants living in that forest. This process helps to keep a forest ecosystem healthy.

 Burned forests serve as important habitat for many species, such as the Black-
backed Woodpecker, Picoides arcticus, that is specialized to live and thrive in
forests that have experienced severe burning.
METHODOLOGY
 Fire is an essential ecological process. However, forest fire
burn area in the Pacific Northwest is likely to double or even
triple by the end of the 2040s based on projected climate
change models and ecosystem evaluations. The projected
increase in forest fires has negative health implications
because of air quality impacts. This study aims to
characterize the linkage between air quality degradation
due to wildfires and hospital respiratory and cardiovascular
admissions, using the 2006 Tripod wildfires as a case study.
The 2006 Tripod wildfires included the Spur Peak and Tripod
Complex wildfires and were some of the largest wildfires in
the past half-century in Washington State. Air monitoring
and air modeling data were used for different research
analyses. Air monitoring data from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
were analyzed to assess any potential air quality
degradation and air monitor availability during the Tripod
wildfire event. The USFS smoke plume modeling data
containing geospatial estimates of exposure for 33 days
were used for analyses that linked air quality data to
hospitalization and population data. Using a case-crossover
epidemiological study, the relationship between air quality
and respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalizations was
assessed.
QUESTION

1.Is wildfire bad for forests?

2.What are the types of forest fires?
3.How does each of these fire types affect the forest?
4.Then is it only crown fire that harms the forest?
5.How do large, dead tree patches affect these lower-mid elevation forests?
6.Aren’t these large patches of dead trees good for other wildlife?
7.Should seedlings be planted in burned patches when they are distant from live,
seed-producing trees?
8.Dead trees from these fires seem to be going to waste. Is there any harm in
removing them?
OBSERVATION
 Understanding climate change-associated tree
mortality is central to linking climate change impacts
and forest structure and function. However, whether
temporal increases in tree mortality are attributed to
climate change or stand developmental processes
remains uncertain. Furthermore, interpreting the
climate change-associated tree mortality estimated
from old forests for regional forests rests on an un-
tested assumption that the effects of climate change
are the same for young and old forests. Here we
disentangle the effects of climate change and stand
developmental processes on tree mortality. We show
that both climate change and forest development
processes influence temporal mortality increases,
climate change-associated increases are significantly
higher in young than old forests, and higher increases in
younger forests are a result of their higher sensitivity to
regional warming and drought. We anticipate our
analysis to be a starting point for more comprehensive
examinations of how forest ecosystems might respond
to climate .
ANALYSIS

 Forest fires cause a significant damage for public property by destroying a large tract of forest. Forest fire
risk assessment, which based on an integrated index, becomes an important tool for forest fires
management. The integrated index includes the information about fuel, topography and weather
condition which constitute potential fire environment together. The fuel and weather condition are
essential for forest fire occurrence, so the main potential fire environment parameters in the process of
the forest fire risk assessment are temperature, fuel moisture content and vegetation status. The
environment parameters data for traditional forest fire risk assessment were always obtained from the
weather station, but these data are kind of point data. We must interpolate these point data into two-
dimension continuous data, but existing interpolating methods produce larger error which we cannot
accept if the number of the weather stations is very sparse in study area. Otherwise, not only the current
environment status affects the assessment result but the cumulative effect of potential fire environment
over longer period before fire event also contributes to the current potential fire environment, which has
not been discussed in detail. RS and GIS technology, which can provide time series of continuous data and
advanced data processing methods, becomes a viable avenue for providing accurate potential fire
environment parameters data for forest fire risk assessment. In this paper, Land Surface Temperature
(LST), Fuel Moisture Content (FMC) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were used to
indicate the potential fire environment. We analyzed the cumulative effect of potential fire environment
over one-month period before each of the typical historical forest fires occurrence from the year of 2000
to 2006.
 The analysis showed that the
cumulative effect of the potential fire
environment plays positive role on
the fire occurrence, especially the
cumulative effect of LST. 73% of the
Accumulated Land Surface
Temperature Departure (ALSTD) is
plus over one-month period.
Therefore, the variation character of
potential fire environment
parameters before forest fire
occurrence will provide much useful
reference information for forest fire
risk assessment.
FOREST FIRE
CONCLUSION

 In just seconds, a spark or even the sun’s heat alone sets off an inferno. The
wildfire quickly spreads, consuming the thick, dried-out vegetation and almost
everything else in its path. What was once a forest becomes a powder keg of
untapped fuel. In an instantaneous burst, the wildfire overtakes thousands of
acres of surrounding land, threatening the homes and lives of many in the
surrounding area.

 An average of 5 million acres burns every year in the United States , causing
millions of dollars in damage. Once a fire begins, it can spread at a rate of up to
14.29 miles per hour, consuming everything in its path. As a fire spreads over
brush and trees, it may take on a life of its own -- finding ways to keep itself alive,
even spawning smaller fires by throwing embers miles away. In this article, we will
look at wildfires, exploring how they are born, live and die.
 Forests and the products they provide are universally required for the continuation of
human society as we know it. To change our society to one that does not depend on the
forest (to the forest's detriment) and its associated benefits requires such an enormous
paradigm shift that we generally do not even consider it worthy of further investigation.
Given this situation therefore, it is imperative that we discover mechanisms to manage
the forest for all the benefits it can provide, in a sustainable manner.

 Few countries have all the answers to all the issues faced, thus there exists a real need for
international cooperation. Loss of forest resources transcends national boundaries and
affects the entire planet. Given this, the roles of various agencies become vitally important
in order to minimise any potential downside and to maximise the upside. Governments,
NGOs, intergovernmental panels and the like must work more closely in order to resolve
the pressing issues facing the forests. In many cases a collaborative approach will provide
a solution which is more acceptable to all parties, and more robust than a solution that is
developed unilaterally
 Societies around the world are beginning
to face up to the reality that as a species
man requires forest resources - both the
wood and non-wood products a
sustainably managed forest can provide.
As the guardians of those resources our
performance has to date been abysmal. It
is with a great deal of urgency that we
must turn that record around and ensure
that we have sustainably managed
forests for the generations that are to
follow. Only a long term global
commitment to conservation and
sustainable development can reverse the
tide of uncontrolled deforestation. A
sound policy framework is central to this
commitment.
FAUNA AND FLORA UPSET BY FOREST FIRE

 When the frequency of forest fires in a given area is high, the consequences can
be devastating. If some specialists consider fire to be a windfall for the ecosystem
(elimination of diseased plants and plants, increased plant and animal diversity,
etc.), we must not forget that the natural cycles of forests are disturbed and that
some species disappear, while invasive plants proliferate. Forest fires increase
carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect
and climate change. In addition, ashes destroy much of the nutrients and erode
the soil, causing flooding and landslides.
THANK YOU
_BY SHAIKH AWAIS_