CLIMATE CHANGE
Forest Fires
Chun Han Maple
SNC1W
TABLE OF CONTENTS
§ Introduction
§ What is climate change? (Chun Han)
§ How does climate change contribute to Forest Fires? (Maple)
§ Main Information
§ Communities in Canada that are affected by Forest Fires (Indigenous People). (Maple)
§ A community outside of Canada affected by climate change (Forest Fires). (Chun Han)
§ Discuss the relationship of these communities with their surrounding ecosystems.
§ Discuss the impacts of climate change on ecosystem sustainability, and how climate change affects each community.
Conclusion (Chun Han)
§ Discuss local and global initiatives to address climate change, and be specific as to how these initiatives can aid the affected communities.
§ Citation (APA style) (Pictures too!)
2
INTRODUCTION (CLIMATE
CHANGE)
§ Climate change is mainly the result of humans burning fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere, and creating a layer that keeps in heat and causes global warming.
Global warming can lead to lots of different diseases including, the likelihood of forest fires,
natural disasters, melting ice caps that destroy habitat, and warming temperatures that can
cause socies to die. To combat climate change, we need to reduce carbon emissions and find
other ways to produce more sustainable energy. These energy sources can be renewable like
solar, wind, hydro etc. This reduces carbon admission dramatically.
3
FOREST FIRES
§ Forest fires can be ignited by lightning,
moisture, temperature, precipitation and
vegetation – all of which can be disturbed by
climate change
§ Wildfires are predicted to increase in Canada
so much it would burn double the amount of
area burned by the end of this century
§ Boreal forests will be impacted the most
§ Other factors impacted by climate change
(such as insect outbreaks, ice storms, high
winds) increase the risk of fire
4
§ In British Columbia, climate change has
caused the weather to become warmer
and drier
§ Longer summers and increased drought
cause the following:
§ Help fire spread, making them harder
to put out
§ Increase the population of mountain
pine beetles, fueling the forests
§ Dehydrates forests, taking the
moisture away from branches and
leaves, making them more
vulnerable to fire
5
ECOSYSTEMS
§ Wildfires can directly impact the water cycle
§ With the forest being a big part of the water cycle,
trees getting burned down will create a
disturbance to the cycle
§ Water is an essential element to an ecosystem . It
provides food, nutrients, shelter and a place to
reproduce
§ Plants help store moisture by absorbing rain and
ground water, cooling the temperature in the
ecosystem
§ Forest fires will erase all these requirements of
keeping a sustainable ecosystem
6
COMMUNITIES IN CANADA
(INDIGENOUS)
§ The Indigenous communities have adapted to the British Columbia
environment and harvested resources sustainably for decades until the
European settlers arrived and cleared forests to begin colonization
§ Forest clearings increases temperature in the environment and dries up
resources used by the Indigenous people
§ First Nations are even responsible for planning prevention of fires and
evacuation plans, however with limited resources for supplies and lack of
government support, it makes it difficult to execute these plans
§ October 31, 2022, 1,758 wildfires burned 133,437 hectares of area in British
Columbia
7
§ Indigenous people also more
prone to health issues from
inhalation of wildfire smoke as
they live closer to nature
§ With Indigenous being forced to
leave their homes, they
must leave behind memories and
harvesting traditions they once
shared with the forest
§ Continuing cultures and
traditions become harder
because families and friends and
separated from looking for new
schools, jobs and homes
8
IMPACTS OF WILDFIRES
(ECOSYSTEMS)
§ It wasn’t just humans that were impacted wildlife was also impacted. The fires burn lots of
older trees and all the ecosystem vegetation diversity. Which then reduces food resources for
wildlife. These can have declines of snakes, goanna, seed-eating birds and even some
mammals.
§ Scientists estimate 800, 000 thousands of animals were wiped out because of the bushfires.
Many endangered species were also affected like koalas were also affected, with one-third of
the species of them dying.
9
IMPACTS OF
WILDFIRES
(ECOSYSTEMS)
§ Ecosystems can’t be sustainable after big forest
fires that don’t happen naturally as lots of native
species take a long time if at all recover. Especially
the biodiversities in the forests can kill entire
species of birds, mammals, and other animals.
§ Burning vegetation causes a shortage of plants and
food for the ecosystems which causes less food for
each trophic level that goes up. Fewer producers
means fewer consumers and if all autotrophs die
out then the whole ecosystem will eventually die
out.
10
IMPACTS OF
WILDFIRES
§ In Australia, from 2019-2020 bush fires burnt more than 46
million acres. It causes more than 3500 thousand people to
evacuate their homes. The area that burnt is almost the same
size as Syria! Around 3,500 houses and buildings were burnt and
34 people perished from September 2019 to March 2020.
§ Australia’s bushfires also killed 56 thousand livestock that
perished in the fire. These impacted local farmers very severely
as some farms were impacted by up to 2 million AUD (1.77 CAD).
Having livestock that died is horrible for the communities that
rely on them for food. This causes a shortage of meat like cows
and sheep. After the fires have burnt through these areas it can
take years for grass and other plants to grow back and allow
farmers to keep raising wildlife.
11
§ We can help reduce climate change by trying to cut
down carbon emissions. We can invest long-term
into buying more renewable energy sources for our
transportation, housing etc. theses renewable
sources can be like electric cars, solar panels, and
even just walking or biking to places.
§ These small things can slowly contribute to the fight
to reduce climate change, as climate changes cause
devastating effects all around the world. Like in
Australia where wildfire kills millions of wildlife and
burns millions of acres of forests.
§ Another thing we can do is raise awareness for a
campaign that reduces climate change or rescues
people that are in forest fires and other disasters etc.
The Red Cross is a global organization that helps
people in wildfires and other disasters.
12
CITATION (PICTURES+LINKS)
§ 2019-2020 Australian bushfires. Center for Disaster Philanthropy. (2022, June 9). https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/2019-australian-wildfires/
§ Canada, N. R. (2022, August 11). Climate change and fire. Natural Resources Canada. https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-
resources/forests/wildland-fires-insects-disturbances/climate-change-fire/13155
§ CBC/Radio Canada. (2019, July 29). Charred forests not growing back as expected after wildfires, researchers say | CBC news. CBCnews.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/charred-forests-not-growing-back-as-expected-in-pacific-northwest-researchers-say-1.5225825
§ Fire. WWF Australia. (n.d.). https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/fire/#
§ Pressprogress. (2020, January 10). Forestry experts warn British Columbia faces high risk of massive wildfires due to climate change. PressProgress.
https://pressprogress.ca/forestry-experts-warn-british-columbia-faces-high-risk-of-massive-wildfires-due-to-climate-change/
§ Service, B. W. (2022, December 21). Wildfire season summary. Province of British Columbia. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-
status/about-bcws/wildfire-history/wildfire-season-summary
§ The New York Times. (2020, January 3). The Australia wildfires . The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/world/australia/australia-
wildfires-photos.html
§ Thurston, I. (2021, August 24). The impact of wildfires on indigenous communities. The Indigenous Foundation.
https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-impact-of-wildfires-on-indigenous-
communities#:~:text=These%20events%20can%20also%20affect,Indigenous%20culture%20is%20also%20destroyed.
§ United Nations. (n.d.). What is climate change?. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change
§ Wildfires and climate change. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. (2022, May 18). https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfires-and-climate-change/
§ Wildfires, water, and our health. Climate Atlas of Canada. (n.d.). https://climateatlas.ca/wildfires-water-and-our-
health#:~:text=Forests%20have%20a%20natural%20water,to%20the%20increased%20surface%20runoff.
13
