Oh, hello summer! I am loving the sunshine and cannot be happier to bid farewell to the miserable winter. But I am not looking forward to hearing the wildfire news from all around the world. Or reading another ‘hottest year on record’ news article. While the fossil fuel companies continue to play with our futures and simultaneously maximise their profits, we will continue to watch yet another raging forest fire erupting simultaneously in many different parts of the world.
I remember watching the truly scary forest fire scene in Disney’s Bambi movie when I was a little girl. I think it was my first exposure to wildfires. I remember crying my heart out and screaming ‘come on Bambi come on, run faster!’. All those adorable and helpless bunnies, possums and deers running from a fire set by a man. I just couldn’t get it back then and I still can’t now. Then I remember looking at the heartbreaking photos of koalas, kangaroos, and other animals being badly burned or left without homes in the 2019-2020 Australian Bushfires. There was this one photo: A wallaby licking his burned paws at a backdrop of raging fire behind him. One picture paints a thousand words.
It took the firefighters 9 months to extinguish all the fire and up to 19 million hectares was burnt, with 12.6 million hectares primarily forests and woodlands. Nearly 3 billion animals were impacted by the blazes.
Last August there were massive forest fires in Turkey and Greece too. I remember watching on the news a Turkish farmer, talking to his son on the phone telling him to leave all the animals and leave the village immediately. The scientists reported that the 2023 wildfire season in Europe was among the worst this century. Another record of the year. Until this summer.
I am aware that the wildfire is a natural part of the ecosystem. Without them, forests become overgrown and burn more intensely when they do catch flame. But as global temperatures surge, the summer wildfire season has witnessed a staggering increase in both the frequency and intensity of wildfires, covering regions that are not typically prone to fire.
In wildfires, elderly and young animals die because they can’t escape the flames. But the biggest problem for wildlife happens after the fire is over. The fire destroys their homes and food sources. It creates new habitats, usually open areas where thick forests used to be. Grasses and shrubs grow there quickly. But sometimes, non-native plants take over before the native ones can return. This can harm the landscape.
Of course, it’s not just the animals and trees I’m worried about. I mean, they’re my favourites, but let’s not forget about us humans too. We die too, lose our homes, our health due to the effects of the smoke caused by the fires. The danger doesn’t disappear once the flames are gone. It can harm the health of those who’ve been near the fire and even affect people who live far away.
What Can We Do Better?
The way we’re dealing with wildfires is not good enough. Instead of just putting more money into firefighting, we should rethink how we see fire. This could mean changing how we manage land and communities, focusing on the fire risks we’ll face in the future, like next year, in 2040, and beyond.
We need to make fire a big part of how we look after forests and other wild places. This includes using methods like thinning trees, controlled burns, and creating clearings to stop fires spreading, alongside the usual focus on recreation. In places where fires are likely, we should plan our communities with fire safety in mind. That means spending money to make homes safer, getting ready for fires, reducing the smoke’s effects, and teaching people why controlled burns are important.
Let’s Not Get Used To These News
But whatever we do, let’s not accept these wildfires as the new normal. Yes, extreme wildfires repeatedly make the headlines every year. Yes, increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and extended drought periods are affecting more and more local communities and regional economies and threatening vulnerable ecosystems across the globe. But this is not something we should get used to hearing, watching and witnessing.
There is nothing normal or inevitable about this.
We need to deal with both climate change and the growing danger of wildfires at the same time. To do this, we must look after the land and nature in a way that keeps them healthy. It’s important to use the land wisely and avoid building too much in areas where wildfires often happen. This will help us reduce the damage caused by wildfires.
Looks like we won’t be able to stop the fossil fuel companies damaging the atmosphere any time soon so until then it’s important to invest in ways to spot fires early and stop them spreading fast. This means using new technologies like satellites and drones to find fires quickly. We need to educate people about the risks of wildfires and how to prevent them. But most importantly a whole-of-government effort is critical to enhance wildfire risk prevention. Forest and land managers, critical infrastructure operators, spatial planning agencies, meteorological services, agriculture ministries, civil protection agencies, local governments and private property owners all have a critical contribution to make in preventing wildfires. Coordination, collaboration and knowledge exchange across sectors and levels of governments needs to be strengthened.
We need to work together to look after the land, using new tech, and teaching people how to tackle climate change and wildfires, making sure our environment and communities stay safe for years to come. (Or maybe I should say ‘as long as we can,’ considering what’s going on. That would be a more realistic approach.)