Your Guide to Forest Trends: Tracking the Shifts That Shape Our Planet
Forest fires are one of the most dangerous natural disasters on earth. Apart from deforestation and killing ecosystems, they also release a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. And unfortunately, the effect of these is felt long term, especially by we humans.
But on the bright side, we now have technology. With satellites and interactive mapping programs, we can see more about forest fires. These tools allow us to monitor the damage progress of forest fires and research on how to execute the recovery process. Read on as we discuss how these technologies are helping us to deal with the effect of forest fires.
Visualizing Fire Damage with Satellite-Based Maps
With technology, you can track fire damages from above in real-time. NASA, MODIS and VIIRS and ESA’s satellites are able to do this with the Sentinel sensors; it monitors the source of the fire and how far it has moved.
These advanced maps provide a better idea of the trends in forest fires across time. It shows the frequency, intensity, as well as the affected areas. If you want to know more, check the Global Forest Watch Fires Map to find hotspots of active fire areas, monitor past fires and learn what is happening to forests across the globe.
Tracking Tree Loss, Burn Severity, and Forest Recovery
Unfortunately, fire damage does not stop at the extinguishment. Many people fail to consider the long-term ecological damage which can sometimes take decades. Fortunately, satellite data is capable of evaluating the loss and the probability (and ways) of recovery.
Tree Loss
Every year, wildfires destroy millions of hectares of trees. Global Forest Watch also reveals that fire has been a significant cause of deforestation around the globe over the last twenty years (2001-2022). It is even more pronounced in dry tropical regions where the vegetation is more exposed to fires.
The remarkable thing is that now satellites can tell the difference between trees that burned and trees that were logged or farmed. This level of detail enables us to understand how wildfires will impact forest ecosystems.
Burn Severity
Fires are not alike. Some burn low and slow, others comb through the forests with devastating force. With satellite methods such as the Differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR), we can map areas that have been exposed to fires into low, moderate and high burn severity areas.
- Low severity: Part of the vegetation is still present, which helps recovery to be quicker.
- High severity: The canopy is destroyed, soil suffers damage and it may take many decades to recover.
Forest Recovery
After destruction, the regeneration of forests is also monitored by satellites. Here are important factors that determine recovery:
- Severity of the fire
- Local climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature
- Health of soil and erosion
- Seed availability and forest type of the impacted forest
There are some forests that are naturally adapted to recover from a fire. Others, particularly tropical rainforests, might not recover easily. Scientists are ready to address the future risks of climate change by mapping these patterns.
Case Studies: The Global Impact of Forest Fires
Here are some case studies of how different regions across the world have been affected:
California, USA
California is known for wildfires to a reasonable extent, but it has become even more in recent years. We had disaster like Camp Fire (2018) and Caldor Fire (2021) destroying entire farms and leaving people without homes.
NASA and USGS satellite data also shows the number of burns with loss of trees from theses fires. Even 5 years after, recovery is still minimal because of poor soil condition and drought.
The Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest fires are mostly associated with illegal deforestation and clearing of land to produce crops. Global Forest Watch has provided satellite imagery that indicates seasonal spikes in fires in the dry months, especially in Brazil and Peru. Such fires result in significant losses of tree cover.
Final Words
Unfortunately, forest fires damage our ecosystem and causes a lot to lose their homes. And with it being on the rice lately, tracking is very important. It is the best way we can prevent and respond faster to forest fires.
