Wildfires – New Jersey, USA
A fast-moving wildfire in southern New Jersey grew to nearly 4,000 acres in under 24 hours as record springtime heat has set in across the Northeast. The Jimmy’s Waterhole Fire had already burned more than half the average acres burned in New Jersey in an entire year. About 170 structures in the Manchester Township area were evacuated Tuesday night, but all residents have since been allowed to return home.
One third of Sierra Nevada forest wiped out by drought and fires
The Sierra Nevada region of California covers nearly 27 million acres of forests that provide habitat for thousands of animal species and is home to dozens of species of conifers, including native redwoods (the world’s tallest trees), sequoias (the world’s widest trees), or Great Basin bristlecone pines (the world’s longest living trees).
Now, a team of scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, has found that, from 2011 to 2020, a combination of devastating wildfires, droughts, and drought-related bark beetle infestations killed a staggering 30 percent of forests in the Sierra Nevada mountain range between Lake Tahoe and Kern County.
Wildfires – France
Wildfires raged in southwestern France on Tuesday, destroying sixteen houses, burning 6,000 hectares and forcing the evacuation of almost 10,000 people in an area already hit last month by huge blazes. Another fire is in the Maine et Loire department in western France, where 650 hectares have been scorched and 500 are threatened, according to local authorities.
Wildfires – Spain
Spanish firefighters on Saturday struggled to contain wildfires that have ravaged large tracts in the northwest, as a third summer heat wave grips the country. Firefighters were battling six blazes in Galicia that have scorched nearly 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres). Some 700 people have been evacuated from the area around Boiro, where a blaze broke out on Thursday, according to regional officials. But no casualties have been reported so far.
Wildfires – Idaho, USA
The Moose Fire has burned an estimated 68,166 acres — or about 106 square miles — since July 17. The fire was 14% contained as of the morning of Saturday, Aug. 6.
California Wildfire Causes Fish Deaths
A wildfire burning in a remote area just south of the Oregon border appears to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Klamath River fish, the Karuk Tribe said Saturday. The dead fish of all species were found Friday near Happy Camp, California, along the main stem of the Klamath River.
Tribal fisheries biologists believe a flash flood caused by heavy rains over the burn area caused a massive debris flow that entered the river at or near Humbug Creek and McKinney Creek. The debris entering the river led to oxygen levels in the Klamath River dropping to zero on Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to readings from tribal monitors at a nearby water quality station.
Wildfires – Ukraine
Forest fires have erupted in the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, with Ukraine claiming that Russian control of the abandoned power plant is hampering efforts to control the flames. At least seven fires have been spotted within Chernobyl’s exclusion zone via satellite imagery taken by the European Space Agency.
In 2020, a forest fire near the reactor caused radiation levels to spike to 16 times above normal. The conflagration was extinguished after a two-week effort by firefighters.
Wildfire smoke linked to Arctic melting
The dense plumes of wildfire smoke seen in recent years are contributing to the warming of the Arctic, say scientists. Their study says that particles of “brown carbon” in the smoke are drifting north and attracting heat to the polar region.
Researchers have long been familiar with “black carbon”, the sooty particles that are emitted from diesel engines, coal burning, cooking stoves and other sources. These aerosols, which absorb sunlight and turn it into heat, are known to be the second largest contributor to global warming.
Observational analyses and numerical simulations show that the warming effect of brown carbon aerosols over the Arctic is up to about 30% of that of black carbon. Far more than the estimated 3% previously thought.
The study found that wildfires were the main source of this brown material – contributing twice as much to the warming effect of brown carbon in the Arctic than was coming from fossil fuels. The authors believe that while black soot has played the major role, brown carbon had a hand in the exceptional warming being felt in the Arctic region in recent decades.
Wildfires – Record CO2 Emissions
Wildfires produced a record amount of carbon emissions in parts of Siberia, the United States and Turkey this year, as climate change fanned unusually intense blazes, the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said on Monday.
Wildfires emitted 1.76 billion tonnes of carbon globally in 2021, Copernicus said. That’s equivalent to more than double Germany’s annual CO2 emissions.
Some of the worst-hit hotspots recorded their highest wildfire emissions for any January-November period since Copernicus’ dataset began in 2003, including parts of Siberia’s Yakutia region, Turkey, Tunisia and the western United States.
Australia Loses 30% of its Koalas to Wildfires
Australia has lost 30 per cent of its koala population in the last three years due to the blazing bushfires in Victoria and New South Wales. Warning about the rapid decline in the population of koalas, the Australian Koala Foundation has said the numbers are dropping at an alarming rate.
Australian Bushfires Warmed Planet
Smoke pollution from Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020 warmed the stratosphere over the southern hemisphere by at least 1°C for six months, according to a new analysis. The devastating 2019 to 2020 bushfire season in Australia injected huge amounts of smoke into the stratosphere and led to record aerosol pollution.
Black Summer Wildfires Burned 100 Plant Species
More than 100 plant species had their entire populations burned in the Black Summer bushfires, according to the most detailed study yet of the impact on Australia’s plants.
An estimated 816 species had at least half the areas they grow burned, according to estimates in the study, and some ecosystems are now at risk of “regeneration failure”.
While many of the species studied are adapted to recover from fire – either by reshooting or growing from seeds waiting dormant in nearby soils – there are fears that the loss of mature plants has left some species and entire ecosystems vulnerable.
Arctic wildfires emit more CO2 in two months than whole of 2019
In total, smoke from the wildfires was covering an area of about 3.6 million sqkm on Wednesday – more than a third of the area of Canada
Smoke from massive fires in the Arctic has blanketed nearby cities and could travel thousands of kilometers to other parts of the world, raising concerns among scientists about poor air quality and exacerbated global warming.
Out-of-control wildfires north of the Arctic Circle have released more dangerous greenhouse gases in two months than all of the fires last year combined, the Independent reports.
Vietnam Bans Wildlife Imports, Bans Illegal Wildlife Markets
Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed a new directive that bans wildlife imports and closes illegal wildlife markets, a move applauded by Humane Society International/Vietnam. This directive provides clear instructions to relevant enforcement agencies and authorities to take immediate actions to better control wildlife trade as part of the global response to the threat of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19 posed by wildlife consumption and trade.
Australian Wildfire – Among Worst Wildlife Disasters
Nearly 3 billion animals were affected by Australia’s worst wildfire season that burned from last July through March this year, scientists announced Tuesday — a figure almost three times higher than original estimates.
The report released Tuesday and commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia said more than 46 million acres were scorched. An estimate in January said 1.25 billion animals were affected.
“This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history,” said Dermot O’Gorman, the organization’s chief executive officer in a statement.
Ten researchers from Australian universities and wildlife groups involved in the report have been looking at both the impact of the fires and possible ways to protect ecosystems in the future.
The affected wildlife includes 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs.
Further Effects of Australian Wildfires
Many waterways in Australia that have been inundated with ash and debris following the devastating bush fires this spring and summer, killing fish and other aquatic life and fouling drinking water supplies. The thick dark mud flowing into creeks and streams is killing insect larvae, tadpoles, freshwater shrine, crayfish oysters along with many protected species of fish. One of the primary impacts of the large pulse of ash was a rapid decline in dissolved oxygen levels in the water.
Australia’s Bushfires Brought 113 Species Closer to Extinction
On Tuesday, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment released a list of 113 species with the highest urgent need for conservation action due to the damage they’ve suffered from this tragic situation. The list includes species such as the Kangaroo Island dunnart and Pugh’s frog, both of which are “at imminent risk of extinction,” per the report, because of how much habitat the fires destroyed.
These species were endangered before this year’s bushfire season kicked off. Now, things have gotten worse when they need to be getting better. Most have lost at least 30 percent of their range, but many have lost even more. The endemic red browed treecreeper, for instance, saw almost half of its range burn. This priority list features animals such as the golden-tipped bat, which likes to dwell in the forests and caves of the fire-stricken eastern coast of Australia, is among those included. This list is focusing on species with key functions in the ecosystem.
Many of the other species on the list—13 birds, 19 mammals, 20 reptiles, 17 frogs, five invertebrae, 22 crayfish, and 17 freshwater fish—also face severe habitat disruption.
Koalas starving and dying of thirst after bushfires destroyed their habitat
Koalas are starving to death because bushfires plaguing the country are destroying their food. The bushfires in the Adelaide Hills have burned 25,000 hectares of land and left koalas desperately searching for food and water. Its often at least four days before they are found. Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves – but thousands of trees have been decimated by fires.
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