by A forest fire, which is burning in a sparsely populated region of Central -Oregon, has become the greatest fire this year and is about to exceed 100,000 acres in order to become known as a megafire.
Almost 900 employees fought against the CRAM fire for 160 kilometers southeast of Portland, and they burned it about 73% with more than 95,000 acres.
Here is a look at the megafire and its increasing frequency in the warming world.
What is a megafire?
A megafire is generally defined as a fire that burns at least 100,000 acres, said Craig Clements, climate researchers and director of the interdisciplinary research center for forest fire at San Jose State University. This corresponds to about 404 square kilometers or about half as large as in New York City, which has a land area of 300 square miles (778 square kilometers).
Not all researchers agree that Megafire is a scientifically solid term, even though Clements used it. With the increasing use of the media, he believes that “it stays here, similar to“ heat dome ”and other popular weather names that are not formal scientific terms. In some state reports and research in recent years, references to 100,000 hectares can also be found, since Megafire is also found in some government reports and research results.
Do megafire go more often?
According to a report by the National Interagecy Coordination Center, there were at least 14 forest fires in the United States, which burned more than 100,000 acres in the United States. In a report on the internal department of 2022, it showed that the number of megafire, which she defined as more than 100,000 acres, had increased in the past decade.
According to Brian Harvey, Professor of Wald fire brigade at the University of Washington, the amount of forest area that was burned every year in the western USA has tripled around since the 1980s.
The connection between forest fires and climate change
The connection between climate change and the increasing frequency of severe forest fires is particularly noticeable in the western USA and in the Boreal Forest, which extends from Canada to Alaska, according to Harvey, because these fire -hazarded ecosystems have delivered moisture moisture throughout the summer, and global warming that previously melted.
Forest fires naturally occur in healthy ecosystems, but extreme forest fires can slow down the residents of the local plants and trees and produce favorable conditions for invasive species. The threat is growing because, according to the US Ministry of Agriculture, climate change can become more frequent and more serious.
Forest fire seasons are also influenced by Blitz, land management practices and fires caused by humans. According to USDA, fires that make up 70-90% of the forest fires depending on the state and year. This includes fires through fireworks or thrown away cigarettes.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rising temperatures and longer droughts have dried up plants and leaves in the past 20 years and drifts forest fires in the western USA. “The fire are growing and this was connected to drying fuels from a warming climate,” said Clements.
“By definition, large fires are fired by extreme weather conditions such as really high temperatures, low relative humidity and strong winds,” said James Johnston, deputy research professor at the University of Oregon. Climate change explains a large part of this weather, which increases the frequency of large, rapidly moving fires, he added.
When and how did the Cram Fire start?
The firefighters responded to a fire that burned on the private country along the US route 97 in the Willowdale area on the private country. At that time it burned a little more than 2 square miles (6 square kilometers) and was uncomfortable.
Until the next day it had grown so much that governor Tina Kotek called the emergency fire law after the district officials asked for help, so that the fire engineer of the state of Oregon mobilized resources to support local agencies. It was the sixth time in this running fire in which the governor called the law.
The cause is examined.
What kind of damage did it cause?
The fire has destroyed two houses and 14 outbuildings such as barns, pumpäuser, workshops or dandruff. The threat to the structures was significantly reduced when the containment reached 73%, the officials said on Monday. Some evacuations remained in force on Monday, but some zones were downgraded.
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O’malley reported from Philadelphia and Brumfield from Cockeysville, Maryland.
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