When it comes to out-of-control wildfires, there are many more consequences to be aware of than simply the damage caused by the flames making direct contact with foliage. The true reason that out-of-control wildfires are such a danger is because of the profoundly negative impact that they have on entire ecosystems in the long-term, not just the fact that they scorch the earth with their heat. The following are some of the long-term consequences that need to be understood in order to appreciate the urgency of wildfire prevention.
Food Chain Disruption
Wildfire prevention isn’t just essential for protecting human beings, but animals too.When raging fires take over forest, the food chain of an entire ecosystem can be thrown into chaos. If a species is locally diminished or wiped out by a wildfire, the species that subsists on that species as a prey animal can suddenly left without a stable food source. Without any way to feed their young or themselves, a chain reaction of species being either starved to death or overly dominant can put an ecosystem into an unstable position from which it is unable to recover.
Wildlife Displacement
Plenty of wild animals are already forced into unnaturally close proximity with human beings because of the overabundance of home development. When wildfires ravage the dwindling natural home that they already have, animals that would otherwise never come into close contact with human beings are practically forced to enter residential areas in search of food; naturally, this puts both the animals and the people who they encounter at risk.
Increased Ozone Layer Damage
An unmitigated wildfire releases great amounts of smoke into the air. Though many wildfires may occasionally be caused by a natural phenomena such a freak lightning strikes, wildfires that are caused by chemical irritants developed by humans can create a certain variety of smoke that is much more damaging to the atmosphere the natural smoke. When smoke from chemical wildfires is combined with the smog from human industrial complexes, the ozone layer can be put into a much greater degree of danger than it already is.
Local Business Destruction
The range of wildfires aren’t always restricted to the forests in which they begin. In communities that are very closely situated next to areas that are very dense in greenery, wildfires are capable of reaching and destroying local business establishments. A establishment being overtaken by flames can easily throw the business owner into financial ruin if they have no contingency plan for the disaster.
Property Devaluation
Homeowners who may have been optimistic about the value of their residence when moving in may have an entirely different attitude when fire damage substantially reduce the property value. Flames ravaging the surrounding area naturally results in the overall attractiveness of the community to home buyers going down by a fair degree. In the worst-case scenario, homeowners may find that the amount that they originally paid for their home puts them at a deficit after a wildfire’s damage diminishes the area’s value.
