Effects and Damages Caused by Wildfire in California (Research Paper Sample)

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Effects and Damages of California Wildfires and Methods to Prevent Them
Experts claim that the rising flames result from climate changes and human activities. It is essential to find out the possible causes of fire incidences and develop ways of reducing global warming and limit human activities in the forest. Residents around forest cover must deploy preventive measures to avoid an outbreak. To curb the raging fire, the U.S government urges citizens to plant more trees and avoid cutting down logs and vegetation cover that leaves the ground bare. In the measures of protecting homes and families, consider constructing homes with fireproof materials. As a result of the alarming increase in fire cases, it will be crucial to educate parents, students, and the community on their preparedness concerning the areas affected by fire, caution them on its impacts and damages evident in the state, hence deriving the most effective measures to deploy to prevent fires from occurring in future.
Literature Review
Damages caused by wildfire
California experiences warm and dry conditions that persist annually, leading to the spread and significant damage from wildfires. In the year 2020, wildfires averaged to 42,000 burnings that consumed more than 6.7 million acres of land. Active fires in the year were 87, and which burned 4.7 million acres in the state. High-ranking authorities and scientists blame climate changes for the increasing intensity of wildfires in the year. Experts warn that wildfires will continue over time due to an increase in temperatures and shorter winters. Experts are urging the state to use natural remedies to reduce the increasing flames.
Method
Creating Awareness on Wildfire
The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection urges California citizens to prepare despite expectations of having a wet winter. Homeowners should be aware of the increase in fire and design on how they can handle the flames. In an article by Scott 2017, he urges residents to remove the vegetation cover around their homes and ensure they maintain a reasonable space to increase the chances of overcoming a wildfire. Citizens are requested to harden their structures at home using building materials that resist ignition. Apart from clearing the vegetation cover surrounding households, the citizens maintain healthy trees and shrubs and create an evacuation plan in case a fire occurs.
Educating school going kids and the community on the spread of wildfires and its consequences, and how they can overcome a fire. Scott (2017), asserts school officials to initiate a learning process whereby they inform the kids on how fire incidences occur and how it spreads. Schools fraternity have a schedule to educate Parents and the school community on what causes the fire and how they can avoid it. When parents, students, and the community get training on how the fire occurs and the causes, wildfires will decrease and reduce the fatalities. Wildfires cause deaths as a result of inhaling the smoke and exposure to excessive heat. Therefore, inform the parents and the community on the process of evacuating their families from a fire incident.
Wildfire has a massive impact on human health and their wellbeing. Smoke inhalation from the fire can lead to dangerous health hazards such as chest pain, increased heartbeat, and breathing difficulties, among others, as discussed by Luo et al. (2019). Developing children are highly susceptible to the smoke from a wildfire since their body parts are growing. When the outdoor is smoky, ensure the child stays indoors and monitor the air quality. If a burn occurs on an individual, cool it with cold water, cover it, and seek medical assistance. It is crucial to ensure children are away from fire and smoke to reduce their encounter with breathing problems.
Remove dead and dry trees from the environment to minimize cases of wildfire. When there are drought and trees dry, having a wildfire spread to a large area is high, unlike during winter. Firefighters urge Californians to remove all dry leaves from their roofs and get rid of any fallen trees. The citizens are asked not to plant trees along power lines, and if there are any, they should be cut and removed by qualified professionals from the forestry department. Homes with a surrounding of dead trees have higher chances of encountering fire than areas with low tree mortality.
Prevention
Measures set to prevent a wildfire
Experts use drone technology to detect areas prone to fire occurrence and a coolant sprinkling to extinguish any fire. According to James et al. (2019), smart drones can prevent a fire incident in advance or extinguish an already raging fire with the recent advancement in technology. The drone has a thermal machine that has the intelligence to predict an area that is vulnerable to fire. Therefore, the relevant authority can take measures to eliminate the possibility of igniting the fire. The device works by observing temperatures in a specific area and scans it using a thermal forecasting system. Later the device predicts whether the area is prone to fire as a result of high temperatures. If the spot experiences fire, the drones sprinkle coolant to curb wildfire occurrence. A drone is an effective means of extinguishing the fire before it spreads to a large area.