Forest fires and environmental safety

The dramatic pictures of forest fires that blazed across the Peloponnese and other regions of Greece could lead one to think of significant ecological effects. The area around the Mediterranean has had a long history of forest fires and burning bushes.

Several people have been killed as the massive fires blazed out of control. Strong winds made it more difficult for firefighting crews to mobilize and organize effectively to combat the over 170 fires burning across Greece.

The question that scientists will have to ponder in the coming weeks is whether there will be a lasting impact on climate change. There is no way yet to get a clear idea on the degradation that results in the scorched areas. The certain things is that if heavy rains come after huge fires like this, there will be a greater degree of erosion and loss of good topsoil.

For shrubland vegetation, it may take between three and four years for conditions to return to pre-fire conditions. But with the forests, it will take at least 10 to as long as 40 years to return.

Experts think that forests in the Mediterranean and other regions of the world have evolved the capacity to withstand fire. Most forests have been through fires before and thus include fire-resistant species. However, the ecological impact of forest fires depend on the degree of heat generated during the fires. A light, swift blaze may not damage the root systems. Hotter conflagrations kill even the roots.

Conservation groups are gearing up to help research and restore the burned forests of Greece when the flames die down. There will be the crucial question of which trees to put back. Climate change will make the Mediterranean a much warmer and drier place, with reduce availability of water.

Conservation experts think there may be greater sense in replacing trees that cannot withstand fire or drought with other species that are more resistant to fire and that consume water less. There are people who will protest what seems to be a deliberate intervention with the ecosystem.

But these experts say people should not think of ecosystems as rigid environments, but as something that is always moving forward, and changes in composition of species are always happening. Climate change will eventually replace the area with fire-resistant, water-saving trees, so this can be considered an assisted adaptation.

The Greek fires of 2007 came about by a confluence of events – people decided to start some fires and climate conditions made spontaneous combustion and spreading more likely to happen. As in previous forest fires in the Mediterranean, it is the high temperatures and low humidity that helped start the fires, and the strong winds that fanned them to raging fires.

The loss of forest cover from the Greek fires still has to be evaluated, but it may be less than the nearly a million hectares lost in the Spain and Portugal fires of 2003. Notwithstanding the major impact on the people directly affected, this year’s fires in Greece, Cyprus and Serbia will be gone when the autumn rains fall.