Forest fires (prediction, prevention and suppression)

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7 word format

document in English

ecology & environment

presentation

published 28/11/2008

review : Completed

level : Advanced

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The problems and negative impacts associated with large-scale uncontrolled forest ﬁres have increased worldwide over the past two decades. Globally an estimated 300–400 million hectares of forests and woodlands burn annually, emitting an estimated 9.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases; however, ﬁre is a vital and natural part of some forest ecosystems, and a multitude of plants and tree species have become ﬁre-dependent. In the early 1990s global changes had reached proportions that led to the global meeting in Rio de Janeiro (Earth Summit, 1992). Changes in the global ﬁre dynamic and an increase in weather disturbances like El Nino have now created a growing awareness that ﬁres are a major threat to many forests and their biodiversity therein, directly contributing to the climate change process. In particular, tropical rainforests which were thought to be resistant to ﬁres are now experiencing large-scale ﬁres because of unsuitable silvicultural management practices. Globally 95% of all ﬁres originate from various human activities; therefore these activities can be predicted and to some degree prevented well in advance. The difﬁculty lies in predicting and minimizing the impacts of the remaining 5% of all ﬁres which are mostly caused by lightning.

Introduction.
Background to fire management.
1. Global warming.
2. Historical use of fire.
3. Expansion of the concept of fire management.
Global changes.
1. Fire and food security.
2. Fire regimes.
3. Population growth.
Fire prediction.
1. Silvicultural factors contributing to hanges in fire prediction.
2. Human-induced fires.
3. Fire danger rating.
Fire prevention.
1. Initial steps in fire prevention.
2. Integrated (forest) fire management.
3. Incentive schemes.
Preparedness.
1. In the USA.
2. In Namibia.
Fire suppression.
1. Tactics.
2. Incident command system.
3. Techniques.
4. Mopping up.
Conclusion.