Wildfires are the natural fires that happen due to various natural reasons such as rubbing of dried leaves and branches against each other, resulting in the fire. This type of fires can also occur in rural areas depending on the type of vegetation. However, this type of fire can also result in a threat to human life if not controlled.
The Tennessee wildfire that occurred in the year 2016 was a wildfire that occurred in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain. The fire was fueled by severe drought and high wind in the eastern part of the state. It was provoked in late November 2016 which further became an uncontrollable wildfire that burned around 10 thousand acres inside the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and around 6 thousand acres in the other parts of the area. Auroop Ganguly, an expert on climate extremes and water sustainability at Northeastern University, said that this kind of fires that are caused due to extreme weather and hydrological events including heat waves and heavy rain and perhaps, flood, drought, and hurricanes. This is precisely known as ‘Global Weirding’. According to the Gov. Bill Haslam, this was the largest fire in the last hundred years of the state of Tennessee. However, nature was not only the reason behind the fire, activities of human beings such as clearing the land for urbanisation and deforestation resulted in the high winds that brought which together resulted in the fire.
Climate change is a serious problem that is needed to be tackled immediately. It is not a science that can be cured scientifically, humankind needs to understand the seriousness of the issue and act accordingly. Steps such as avoiding deforestation, encouraging tree plantation, sustainable development should be taken by the government to avoid any further unwanted happenings such as Tennessee wildfire.
Mrinal Garg