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    What are Forest fire HotSpots?

    Forest fire HotSpots are forested areas whose ecology and biosystem have been damaged by numerous fires. Forests after a fire have parched soil, and the flora and fauna of such forests are impoverished, which disrupts the exchange processes between all living things. Therefore, hotspots of Forest fire require an immediate response and help from mankind.

    What is the danger from wildfires to people?

    A wildfire is a spontaneous, uncontrolled spread of fire through forested areas. Forest fires have become a global disaster. They destroy not only the "lungs" of our planet - forests but also entire settlements. Fires destroy all living organisms. Smoke from wildfires is a mixture of gasses and fine particles from burning trees and other plants. These gasses and fine particles can be dangerous if inhaled into human lungs. In forest fires, carbon dioxide is generally a hazard to people (e.g. firefighters) working near smoldering areas of the forest. Smoke can irritate the eyes and respiratory system and exacerbate chronic heart and lung diseases. The extent and duration of a person's exposure to smoke, as well as a person's age and level of susceptibility to smoke, are important in determining whether a person will develop health problems related to smoke exposure.

    How long does it take for a forest to grow back after a fire?

    Every year approximately 10-15 million hectares of forest are burned around the world. Forest fires cause immediately noticeable, direct, or indirect damage to the environment, the results of which gradually manifest themselves over a long period. It is not possible to restore the original species on a wildfire until the original soil structure is fully restored. If the humus layer is destroyed or significantly impoverished, forest fire areas are occupied by shrubs, which become dominant and interfere with the self-restoration of the forest. Such poor soils eventually become so depleted that they can no longer support woody plants. Therefore, biotechnical measures - reclamation of burned areas, application of fertile layer and mineral fertilizers to fertilized areas - become necessary to restore the forest. It takes 80-100 years to form a full-grown forest. However, the species composition of self-restored forests is often altered: conifers are replaced by deciduous trees, or other species are replaced by conifers. If the fire did not spread over a single, large area, but in several zones separately, in this case, part of the forest massif is preserved, which is the mother material for the self-regeneration of the existing forest.

    How a forest fire can impact an ecosystem?

    During forest fires, the composition and structure of the atmospheric air change. Combustion occurs at the expense of the oxygen in the air. The air is polluted with hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and other pyrolysis products. As a result of the incomplete combustion of wood, a large number of organic substances with mutagenic and carcinogenic properties, including soot-containing phenolic compounds and radionuclides, collect in the air. Atmospheric transparency decreases, visibility deteriorates, and the number of overcast days increases. Opaque air, in addition to reducing daylight, inhibits waves of ultraviolet light, resulting in the inhibition of photosynthesis. And this, in turn, causes succession and a negative effect on the growth and development of plant organisms. The normal development of crops is also inhibited. Smoke in the air worsens the microclimate of the soil, as a result of the effects of fire, the physical and chemical properties and microbiological state of the soil change, the pH level rises, and the composition of humus changes. Under the influence of high temperature, the ability of soil micro aggregation deteriorates, and the impact of winds on the soil increases, which causes erosion. Valuable organic reserves of cover and topsoil, which take centuries to accumulate, are destroyed. Complete combustion of the soil cover negatively affects the soil nutrition of plants and, in general, the processes of self-restoration of the forest. Soil moisture increases, and this becomes the cause of the swamping of fires.

    How does a forest fire affect the hydrosphere?

    Fire also affects the hydrosphere, changing the average annual hydrothermal and biochemical indicators of water and dense effluents and the hydrological regime of watercourse channels. After forest fires, there is an increase in concentrations of inorganic forms of nitrogen and a significant decrease in dissolved organic carbon, accompanied by changes in its molecular composition in watercourses. In addition to the above, wildfire causes great damage to the biosphere, resulting in irreversible fauna elimination and flora extermination, including the loss of rare species of wildlife and plants.

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