You’re probably giving more thought —more serious thought— to how you can protect your home from fire as climate change threatens. For years, Corrales Fire Chief Anthony Martinez and Commander Tanya Lattin have advised villagers to prune tree and shrub branches away from parts of your home that could easily catch fire. That goes for clearing away easily flammable materials of all kinds. But precautions can go beyond that to the kinds and garden and landscape you establish of this time forward.
That might mean transforming landscaping nearest your home away from shrubs, trees with low-hanging branches and wooden fences and toward groundcovers, mulch and low-growing flower beds. It could also mean assuring that a garden hose that could be used to douse flames is kept away from possible sources of ignition: a melted hose is all but useless.
Climate change and land use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 per cent by 2030, 30 per cent by the end of 2050 and 50 per cent by the end of the century, according to a recent report by the UN Environment Program (UNEP). The paper called for a radical change in government spending on wildfires, shifting their investments from reaction and response to prevention and preparedness.Â
The report, “Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires,†finds an elevated risk even for the Arctic and other regions previously unaffected by wildfires. The report was released before representatives of 193 nations convened in Nairobi for the UN Environment Assembly between from February 28 to and 2 March 2.Â
The publication called on governments to adopt a new “Fire Ready Formula,†with two-thirds of spending devoted to planning, prevention, preparedness and recovery, with one-third left for response. Currently, direct responses to wildfires typically receive over half of related expenditures, while planning and prevention receive less than one per cent.Â
To prevent fires, the UN report calls for a combination of data and science-based monitoring systems with indigenous knowledge and for a stronger regional and international cooperation.
Current government responses to wildfires are often putting money in the wrong place. Those emergency service workers and firefighters on the frontlines who are risking their lives to fight forest wildfires need to be supported. We have to minimize the risk of extreme wildfires by being better prepared: invest more in fire risk reduction, work with local communities, and strengthen global commitment to fight climate change†said Inger Andersen, UNEP executive director.
Wildfires disproportionately affect the world’s poorest nations. With an impact that extends for days, weeks and even years after the flames subside, they impede progress towards the UN sustainable development goals and deepen social inequalities:
- People’s health is directly affected by inhaling wildfire smoke, causing respiratory and cardiovascular impacts and increased health effects for the most vulnerable
- The economic costs of rebuilding after areas are stricken by wildfires can be beyond the means of low-income countries
- Watersheds are degraded by wildfires’ pollutants; they also can lead to soil erosion causing more problems for waterways
- Wastes left behind are often highly contaminated and require appropriate disposal
Wildfires and climate change are mutually exacerbating. Wildfires are made worse by climate change through increased drought, high air temperatures, low relative humidity, lightning, and strong winds resulting in hotter, drier, and longer fire seasons. At the same time, climate change is made worse by wildfires, mostly by ravaging sensitive and carbon-rich ecosystems like peatlands and rainforests. This turns landscapes into tinderboxes, making it harder to halt rising temperatures.
Wildlife and its natural habitats are rarely spared from wildfires, pushing some animal and plant species closer to extinction. A recent example is the Australian 2020 bushfires, which are estimated to have wiped out billions of domesticated and wild animals.Â
There is a critical need to better understand the behavior of wildfires, UNEP reported. Achieving and sustaining adaptive land and fire management requires a combination of policies, a legal framework and incentives that encourage appropriate land and fire use.
The restoration of ecosystems is an important avenue to mitigate the risk of wildfires before they occur and to build back better in their aftermath. Wetlands restoration and the reintroduction of species such as beavers, peatlands restoration, building at a distance from vegetation and preserving open space buffers are some examples of the essential investments into prevention, preparedness and recovery.
The report concluded with a call for stronger international standards for the safety and health of firefighters and for minimizing the risks that they face before, during and after operations. This includes raising awareness of the risks of smoke inhalation, minimizing the potential for life-threatening entrapments, and providing firefighters with access to adequate hydration, nutrition, rest, and recovery between shifts.Â
The report, jointly prepared by AGRID-Arendal of Norway, was commissioned in support of the UN “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.†UNEP is exploring how further investments can be made to reduce fire risks in critical ecosystems around the world.
The full report is available at https://bit.ly/3p7UiP0
GRID-Arendal is a non-profit environmental communications centre based in Norway. “We transform environmental data into innovative, science-based information products and provide capacity-building services that enable better environmental governance. “We aim to inform and activate a global audience and motivate decision-makers to effect positive change. GRID-Arendal collaborates with the United Nations Environment Program and other partners around the world.â€Â
The UN “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030†is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals.
The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, was the first-ever UN conference with the word “environment†in its title. The creation of the UNEP was one of the most visible outcomes of this conference of many firsts. UNEP was created to be the environmental conscience of the UN and the world. Activities taking place through 2022 will look at significant progress made as well as what’s ahead in decades to come.