Forest fires in Chile signal global trend

Forest fires around Valparaiso in central Chile have claimed a toll of 51 dead and authorities are saying that the number might go up, and though the extent of the area of fires is smaller than what had happened last summer – this is summer time in the southern hemisphere – it is still very large, spreading over thousands of hectares.

Helicopters and fire-engines have been pressed into service to douse the raging flames. Last year, due to a record heat wave, 27 people had died and 400,000 hectares were burnt. Interior Minister Carolina Toha said, “The area with fires is much smaller than last year, (but) at this time the number of hectares affected is multiplying very rapidly.” Between Friday and Saturday, the affected area increased from 30,000 hectares to 43,000 hectares. Toha said that there was the danger of the fires affecting people’s homes.

Forest fires are a general summer phenomenon across continents, from Australia to California, Canada and Chile. The increasing incidence of forest fires and heat waves raises the concern that this is part of the climate crisis that has hit all parts of the globe. Earlier, forest fires were regional and the damage was quite localised. But because of many factors including encroachment of human habitat and destruction of ecological systems, the vulnerability to environmental disasters is not only growing but it is hitting human habitat as well. And it becomes necessary to analyse as to why there is increase in forest fires.

A World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report of 2016 says that 15 per cent to 20 per cent global carbon emissions are from forest destruction. It says, “As a general rule, globally only around four per cent of all forest fires have natural causes such as lightning. In all other cases, humans are responsible for the fires – be it directly or indirectly, deliberately or due to carelessness.” 

A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report in 2022, “Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires,” says that the number of wildfires will rise by 50 per cent by 2100. According to UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, “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 minimise 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.”

The challenge posed by climate crisis is wide-ranging, and there is need for a comprehensive response. Floods and droughts and forest fires cannot be handled separately because they seem to be interrelated. The connections have to be brought to light. And teams of researchers working on diverse aspects of climate need a connecting loop of information because each team knows what is happening in all the fields, and their research and the solutions could be coordinated. Each country, each continent, each ecological region cannot any more be treated as separate spheres. There can of course be no global solutions.

Causes of natural disasters will be local and so will be solutions. But sharing information connected to regional disasters can be helpful. There is need for sharing of information on ecological changes among teams working in different countries, and the data from each place is to be collected in a common bank and made accessible to all. National governments must help facilitate the global flow on ecological information so that lessons can be learned. It is a necessary first step to deal with climate change.