HOW-CAN-YOU-HELP-IN-CLIMATE-CHANGE

First of all, we must understand what the difference between climate and weather is. Changes that we can feel and see daily is called weather.

It might happen that at your place it’s sunny or scorching heat but in other parts of the world it might be raining out there at the same time. It might be sunny one day and the other day it might be raining. Now coming to climate, the usual weather of any place is called climate. Climate may vary from season to season. Now let us know what is climate change? It’s the change in the weather of any usual place. Any climate change also changes the Earth’s climate. The study of climate change includes water, land, ice and air. There are many factors affecting climate change which include volcano eruption, deforestation, wildfires, changes in oceans, combustion of fuels (coal, oil, gasoline) etc. As a consequence of these activities, the Earth’s temperature is rising day by day and scientists have predicted the rise in Earth’s temperature will continue for the next 100 years due to this reason the snow on mountains and glaciers will melt soon causing scarcity of water in many parts of the world.

Wildfires are the uncontrollable fire that burns everything when once ignited. They can burn grasslands, forests, savannas and many other ecosystems that come in their way. ground fires can also burn slowly without smoke for the entire season until they get favorable conditions to grow into a crown fire. Crown fires burn in vegetation, leaves, trees, canopies etc. Wildfires can start naturally with a lightning strike or sometimes by humans. Geographical locations also plays important role in wildfires. Occurrence of wildfires near communities may cause serious threat to lives and vegetation such as Campfire in 2018 in Butte County, California devasted the entire city of Paradise into ashes according to reports 86 people died. Wildfires cause warmer temperatures which increases the ratio of dried-out forests and more frequent droughts occurrence.

Exposure to fire flames and intense heat may result in injuries, mental health, burns and death specially the people and firefighters living near wildfires. The wildfire in Australia (2009) also called as ‘Black Saturday’ killed 173 people within 72 hours. 146 people were burned, and 64 were physically traumatized and were shifted to near emergency centers. In such situations firefighters are at most risk who are exposed to intense heat related health problems which includes dehydration, heat cramps and life threatening heat strokes. Areas with wildfires contains thick layer of smoke which can result in corneal abrasions, eye irritation and low visibility by increasing the risk of accidents. Thick smoke blanket of wildfires can range up to 1000km along with the risk factors associated with them which includes many infections, diseases and at last death. Wildfires also propagate air pollution.

The areas near forests or where wildfires can ignite must have evacuation plans or personal protection equipment and emergency supplies (P100 or N95 face masks, food supplies, medicines and water). Hospitals should be well equipped and well prepared for such conditions to accommodate emergency patients load. wildfire ashes contains heavy amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals which should be properly disposed off otherwise these ashes will cause serious threat to aquatic life and will contaminate drinking water bodies. During or after wildfire the water from such areas should be test before drinking otherwise avoid usage of water from such areas. Risk reduction strategies must be implemented until air quality becomes safe.

In some cases, wildfires possess great importance in the proliferation of some species of plants (chaparral plants) i.e: Adenostoma fasciculatum (chamise), Quercus berberidifolia (shrub oak) etc. The cones of these trees need heat to open and release their seeds into the environment for their survival and proliferation. The above plants require fire for the release of their seeds these wildfires are common for these plants to continue their normal life cycle. these plants require fire after every few years and some require wildfire a few times in a century. Wildfires also help in keeping the ecosystem healthy. They not only destroy insects but also diseases that harm trees. This helps the sunlight to reach the ground which helps to nourish small plants and provides room for big trees to grow properly.

According to scientists, we can help in reducing or limiting climate change by:

  • Consuming less energy at home and the workplace. Turn off the extra lights while leaving the room.
  • Taking public transport, walking or using cycles as a mode of transportation.
  • Do not waste water; turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
  • Educate every single person about replantation.
  • Run awareness campaigns to stop deforestation. Let everyone know the adverse effects of deforestation.
  • Consume more vegetables and stop wasting food as a lot of energy is required to grow the vegetables or other products.
  • Convert to green energy to reduce combustion for electric power
  • Switch to electric vehicles
  • If we learn about the earth we can help improve or solve the adverse climate changes and all associated problems to it.