Controlled burns carry many ecological benefits. However, there are downsides to igniting an ecosystem, mostly due to the sometimes unpredictable nature of fire. Many of these drawbacks, like lower air quality, are short-term and would be worse in the case of an uncontrolled wildfire.

According to the U.S. Forest Service’s wildfire database, 44 percent of wildfires across the Western United States were triggered by lightning, but those were responsible for 71 percent of the area burned between 1992 and 2015, the most recent data available.

The Florida Forest Service said some things homeowners can do to prevent fires caused by lightning strikes is to maintain your lawn, bushes, and trees and cut them low. They also recommend to clean out your gutters because any debris in them could spark a fire.

Natural wildfires caused by lightning should be allowed to burn in national forests, but with limitations. Forest Service personnel should manage those fires so that they are confined to a reasonable area, and developed areas near forest land should be protected from damage by fire.

Controlled burns can also reduce insect populations and destroy invasive plants. In addition, fire can be rejuvenating. When these fires are suppressed, flammable materials accumulate, insect infestations increase, forests become more crowded with trees and underbrush, and invasive plant species move in.

When conditions are wrong, prescribed fire can severely damage the very resource it was intended to benefit. Prescribed fire can temporarily reduce air quality, but usually to a much lesser degree than wildfire. Proper planning and execution are necessary to minimize any detrimental effects to air quality.

Between 2010 and 2019 (the latest full year data is available for), the DNR found 73.4% of wildfires were caused by humans, 16.6% by lightning, and 10% by an undetermined cause.

Negative effects of fire

• burn and damage vegetation communities, such as rainforest that take hundreds of years to recover.
• kill or injure individual plants or animals.
• cause erosion and subsequent sedimentation of creeks and wetlands.

Answer Expert Verified. Fires can help eliminate the roots and shoots of invasive plants and stimulate growth of native species. Controlled fires can eliminate infected plants and enrich the soil. Controlled fires can also eliminate overcrowding of plants or trees.

Why Prescribed Fires in Grasslands Don’t Contribute to Global Warming. When all is said and done, the smoke from a prairie fire returns much less carbon to the atmosphere than was sequested during the same time period. Even with annual burning, a prairie stores more carbon than it releases.

Controlled burns are also used to prevent forest fires. Even before human involvement, natural, low-intensity wildfires occurred every few years to burn up fuel, plant debris, and dead trees, making way for young, healthy trees and vegetation to thrive. That new growth in turn supports forest wildlife.

Heat waves are becoming more frequent and more intense. Climate change from human activity nearly doubled the area that burned in forest fires in the American West between 1984 and 2015, according to a study in 2016 by scientists at Columbia University and the University of Idaho. “Climate is really running the show.”

Estimates indicate that approximately twice as much land burned from 1984 to 2015 as a result of climate change, according to NOAA Climate.gov. Bottom line: The 2020 wildfire season was the worst one on record in terms of acres burned and the degradation in air quality.

The agency said the fire was caused by a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device, used during “a gender-reveal party”. The fire started on Saturday morning. “With the dry conditions and critical fire weather, it doesn’t take much to start a wildfire. The fire has since destroyed 7,050 acres.

However, recent data shows that wildfire season is becoming more destructive nationwide, with an increasing number of acres per fire and total acres burned each season. Another factor that exacerbates fire spread is the growing number of people who move to fire-prone wildland areas.

As the planet warms, fires start earlier in the year, last longer, and get bigger. Climate change is to blame for more than half of the increase in areas vulnerable to fire since 1984. Climate change has fueled the crisis in states such as California by driving record-breaking temperatures.

Increasing heat, changing rain and snow patterns, shifts in plant communities, and other climate-related changes have vastly increased the likelihood that fires will start more often and burn more intensely and widely than they have in the past.

Logging geared only towards large tree removal, since it does not manage surface fuels, will increase fire hazard and subsequent fire severity (Morgan and others 2003).

Logging or thinning could provide jobs and wood for local mills, but scientists say it won’t prevent destructive wildfires like the ones the state experienced this year. Logging doesn’t eliminate the underbrush, twigs and tree needles that fire feeds on. Removing brush and debris requires fire.

Year after year, environmentalists litigated and lobbied to stop efforts to clear the forests through timber harvesting, underbrush removal, and controlled burns. Meanwhile, natural fires were suppressed and the forests became more and more overgrown.

Within that land are about 3 million homes. Wildfires in California are going to continue or get worse. “With more people moving into fire prone areas, the eruption of wildfire has contributed to a doubling of wildfire-related deaths and a 60% increase in wildfire-related property damage costs since 2008,” he said.

An August 19, 2020 satellite image of the wildfires burning in Northern California, covering a significant portion of California and nearby states….

Mendocino Complex Fire

The Best Places to Live In and Avoid Fires in NorCal

• Ukiah  Endowed with ecological wealth in the form of the mild climate, surrounding oak forests, and fertile soil, Ukiah offers sustainable living.
• Visalia
• Petaluma.
• Fresno.
• Stockton.
• Eureka.

The 20 Worst Places to Live in California

• Santa Monica. Road Snacks lists Santa Monica as the eight most dangerous place to live in California, which is why it also makes it onto the list of the worst places to live in the state.
• West Hollywood.
• Barstow.
• Red Bluff.
• Oakland.
• Emeryville.
• Riverside.
• Stockton.

The Most Beautiful Towns and Villages in California

• Avalon, Santa Catalina Island. Natural Feature.
• Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey County. Architectural Landmark.
• Dunsmuir, Siskiyou County.
• Ferndale, Humboldt County.
• Julian, San Diego County.
• Nevada City, Nevada County.
• Ojai, Ventura County.
• St Helena, Napa County.

Be sure to research these cities to determine if the lifestyle is right for you.

1. Sacramento. Affordability: 8 out of 10.
2. Los Angeles. Affordability: 8 out of 10*
3. San Diego. Affordability: 6 out of 10.
4. San Jose. Affordability: 4 out of 10.
5. Bakersfield. Affordability: 9 out of 10.
6. Santa Rosa. Affordability: 7 out of 10.

Moving to California? The 10 Best Places to Live in The Golden State

• Fremont. Fremont is one of the most popular places to call home in the San Francisco Bay Area – and we can certainly see why.
• Irvine.
• Los Angeles.
• Mill Valley.
• Palo Alto.
• San Diego.
• San Francisco.
• San Jose.

10 Most Affordable Places to Live in California

• Eureka. Eureka is a small town located just south of the border of Oregon.
• Redlands. A slightly larger town is Redlands, which is less than two hours from Los Angeles.
• Chico.
• Temecula.
• Oxnard.
• Vacaville.
• Camarillo.
• Blythe.

Sure, living in LA (heck, even just visiting LA) can be pricey. But sometimes the best things in life really are free–or close to it. If you’ll be moving to Los Angeles with no money, don’t panic. You don’t have to spend a ton to have a good time in the City of Angels, and here’s the proof.