Climate Changes,
Fires Do Too

by Zoë W.
Published May 15, 2024

For generations humans have said wildfires are bad and devastating for the environment, but what if I told you they were wrong? When wildfires burn down forests, most people assume it's a bad thing, and in some cases they are right, but some fire dependent species sometimes need fires to help benefit the forest and animals. To help the fires people need to understand the positive effects of wildfires on the biodiversity of a forest.

While some animals and plants may be burned down, some of them actually thrive in fire, these are called fire dependent species. Fire dependent species, such as the great sequoia trees, need fire to survive. The sequoia trees need fire so their cones can drop to the forest floor and sprout. The fires also help remove access bark. Therefore the great sequoia tree needs fires to reproduce and survive in the forests of San Francisco. Wildfires also help clear out and eliminate invasive species. While the fires sweep through they can also make extra space for new plants to grow. The forest needs the fires to help make more room so new species and other plants can grow in. The fires also get rid of all the invasive species, helping the ecosystem thrive.

Because of all the climate change happening, the climate has become hotter and drier which allows wildfires to catch more often and spread faster. Already the wildfire season has become longer than it was a few decades ago, in fact there have been about one hundred days added to the wildfire season since 1970. Climate change has also made it so it almost never rains during the summer so everything is dry and not wet. There are three main ways that wildfires start: lightning, coal seams, and manmade campfires.

The fire triangle is a way that we can learn and memorize how a fire can start. The fire triangle can also help us make fires happen in less places and less often. The fire triangle has three sides, heat, oxygen, and fuel. Firstly, the fire needs fuel like dead grass and leaves. Secondly, it needs oxygen so that it can breathe and grow. Lastly, the fire needs heat, one of the reasons why as climate change continues, more wildfires occur. 

The wildfires keep appearing more often as climate change continues. Even though wildfires are very bad for the environment, wildfires can also help lots of plants get the materials and energy they need to survive and thrive. To help stop wildfires from growing in numbers we need to stop climate change because if we don’t, wildfires will grow in numbers and Earth will be almost impossible to live on.