ALPENA, MICHIGAN — As summer dey hot for North Hemisphere, wildfire wahala don dey scatter everywhere like pepper for soup. Since May, Russia‘s Far East don catch fire, and Turkiye, Greece, Cyprus, and Bulgaria no gree take am easy too. Portugal, France, and Spain still dey manage their own fire drama, with blazes wey no wan stop since April.
Satellite data don show say wildfire dey burn about 4 million square kilometers of the planet every year. E mean say if you fit calculate am, wetin we go see dey increase by 50% by di end of di century. Mak we run for our lives o! (Or at least start dey phone our firefighters sharp-sharp).
Wetins dey cause all dis wahala? Two main gists dey for ground. Number one be climate change wey dey flex heat and drought like say e dey dance for party. Dis on top dry trees dey make dem easy fuel for fire. And number two, as humans, we dey encroach forest space, dey start fire for una land like say na branch from our mama’s kitchen. E no fit end well, nah!
No be say all fire dey bad sha. Fire be part of Earth ecosystem since time dey begin, and sometimes, e dey help plants grow better. Controlled fire fit help clear dirty ground and bring nutrients wey new plants fit use as food for birds and animals. For some plants, seeds go even depend on fire to germinate—like dem dey tell you say “fire good for growth.”
Indigenous peoples don sabi this technique forever, dey use controlled fire as way to manage land and prevent bush burning. For Australia, when dem reintroduce dis method back to Kimberley region, annual wildfires wey dey happen don reduce from every year to just once in ten years. Abeg, how you go explain dis one to fire fighters for Naija? (Before dem go start dey vex say why dem no sabi this method).
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) dey recommend say if we sabi how to manage our forests better, e go help us avoid serious wildfire wahala as we no even fit predict wetin go happen next. Community engagement na another big strategy wey fit organize local people to learn how dem fit prepare for dis fire wahala.
Technology dey help too! Fire early-warning systems dey use local weather data to predict when fire fit start. But then, no matter how we try, some fires just dey inevitable, just like serious matter wey we fit solve with better monitoring and quick response when trouble don start.
Wildfires dey cause serious damage, especially for developing countries where people fit lose dem homes, crops, and businesses. E no sweet at all. But maintaining biodiversity fit help us reduce di spread of fire and ecological stress, so dem no go come form dull landscape wey full of fuel for fire. We gats learn to live with fire and not just dey build new structures close to fire-prone areas.
Na wetin we need now na to start consider all dis strategies, so that we no dey run dey fight fire dey waste our resources. The right measures go fit help us and fire fit learn to coexist. Naija, we gats come learn from these global palavas!
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