Wildfire

A wildfire, forest fire, brushfire or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire. Modern forest management often engages in prescribed burns to mitigate fire risk and promote natural forest cycles. Controlled burns can turn into wildfires if they escape containment lines. Wildfires can be classified by cause of ignition, physical properties, combustible material present, and the effect of weather on the fire. Wildfire severity results from a combination of factors such as available fuels, physical setting, and weather. Climatic cycles with wet periods that create substantial fuels, followed by drought and heat, often precede severe wildfires. These cycles have been intensified by climate change, and can be exacerbated by curtailment of mitigation measures (such as budget or equipment funding), or sheer enormity of the event. Wildfires are a common disaster in many parts of the world, for example in Russia (Siberia), the United States (for example in California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Florida), Canada and Australia. Wildfires can severely impact humans and their settlements. Effects include for example the direct health impacts of smoke and fire, as well as destruction of property (especially in wildland–urban interfaces), and economic losses. There is also the potential for contamination of water and soil. At a global level, human practices have made the impacts of wildfire worse, with a doubling in land area burned by wildfires compared to natural levels. Humans have impacted wildfire through climate change (e.g. more intense heat waves and droughts), land-use change, and wildfire suppression. The carbon released from wildfires can add to carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and thus contribute to the greenhouse effect. This creates a climate change feedback. Naturally occurring wildfires can have beneficial effects on those ecosystems that have evolved with fire....