About Wildfires: Brief Overview

Thesis Statement: Underestimating the severity and danger of wildfires and not taking timely action can lead to disaster, as happened, for example, in Australia in 2019-2020.

1. Wildfires, which are considered to be a type of disaster, are destructive, uncontrolled, and quite large fires that spread quickly over brush or woodland (National Geographic Society).

1. Wildfires are not limited to a specific environment or continent and can appear in various ecosystems, including savannas, grasslands, and forests (National Geographic Society).
2. There are three common types of wildfires: crown, surface, and ground fires (National Geographic Society).

   1. Crown fires destroy the whole tree up its entire length to the top.
   2. Surface ones burn only duff and litter on the surface.
   3. Ground fires appear in deep and dry accumulations of dead vegetation like peat and humus.

2. Due to the severity of wildfires, they can have a significant effect on various spheres, including the environment and economics (Rinkesh).

1. Environment and ecosystems may be negatively affected by wildfires.

   1. Animals die because of fires and lack of water and fresh air, and trees and plants get destroyed (Rinkesh).
   2. Wildfires cause air pollution, as well as the destruction of the soil.
2. Governments need to spend significant amounts of money to stop the fires and eliminate their consequences (Rinkesh).

3. Wildfires cannot be underestimated since they pose a significant danger to the whole world.

1. Once a fire starts, it spreads extremely quickly, and it requires great efforts to eliminate it (“Australia Fires: A Visual Guide to the Bushfire Crisis”).

   1. Ordinary people and firefighters die while trying to escape from or deal with wildfire.
   2. Citizens lose their property and may also become buried alive in the wreckage or trapped in the forest.
2. Wildfires eliminate vast territories, and it gets challenging to escape from them. Researchers note that “more than 11 million hectares (110,000 sq km or 27.2 million acres) of the bush, forest, and parks across Australia has burned” (“Australia Fires: A Visual Guide to the Bushfire Crisis”).

Restated Thesis: To reduce the consequences of wildfires, it is of vital importance to address this issue and never underestimate them.

Works Cited

“Australia Fires: A Visual Guide to the Bushfire Crisis.” BBC News. 2020.

National Geographic Society. “Wildfires.” National Geographic. 2019.

Rinkesh. “What are Wildfires?” Conserve Energy Future.