The Bellingham Herald | Sandy Point burn ban planned after Independence Day | The ... The Bellingham Herald Despite two days of record heat last weekend, temperatures remain near normal and no areas of Whatcom County are under burn bans. |
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Sandy Point burn ban planned after Independence Day | The ... - The Bellingham Herald
Around the world, the amount of land being burned in wildfires is declining and human activity is largely the cause, scientists say. According to a new study, out Thursday in the journal Science, global burned area has declined by nearly a quarter in the past two decades. The surprisingdecreaseoccurred largely as agriculture has expanded and intensified throughout the world, taking over many of the natural areas where wildfires commonly occur.
While many recent studies have suggested that climate change will cause longer and more intense fire seasons in certain parts of the world recent research has suggested that its been making wildfires in the western United Statesmore intense for decades the new study indicates thathuman land-use changes also have a significant impact on when and where fires occur. In many places, the influence of human land use is simply just stronger than the climate signal, said the new studys lead author,Niels Andela, a research scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.
This work highlights how humans can shape global fire regimes,David Bowman, a global wildfire expert and professor of environmental-change biology at the University of Tasmania who was not involved with the research, said in an email. Realistically factoring in humans into global climate change and global carbon dynamic projections has always been difficult, and this work demonstrates that this difficulty must be more thoroughly addressed to create plausible scenarios of Earth system change.
The researcherscame to their conclusions by analyzing satellite data on burned area across the planet between 1998 and 2015. During this period, they found that burned area declined about 24 percent an enormous area, according to Andela with much of the decrease occurring in the worlds grasslands and savannas.
The researchers alsoused a model to investigate the effectof factors such as precipitation and human activities on the global fire patterns. They found that precipitation had little influenceon the long-term decline in global burned area but human activity, and particularly agriculture, was a strong driver.
In some places, particularly tropical forest landscapes, the researchers found that agricultural activity was actually associated with an increase in fires, probably as a result of agricultural waste burning or deforestation to make room for cropland. But these increases were outweighed by the areas whereagriculture was associated with a reduction in burned area, mainly in grassland and savanna landscapes, where theres less biomass available to burn and where fire may be less necessary as a land-clearing or management tool.
The researchers found that fire reductions were particularly pronounced in placeswith greater socioeconomic development and higher investment in their pastures and croplands. Wealthier areas maybe less inclined to risk their crops, livestock, homes and infrastructure by using fire as a management tool, the researchers suggest, and the people living in these places also may be less likely to accept the poor air quality caused by smoke from wildfires. In fact, they may begin to employ fire suppression tactics to prevent natural wildfires from occurring.
These global fire reductions may come with pros and cons, the researchers note. For one thing, fire is a natural elementof manyecosystems life cycles, helping to recycle nutrients, regulate competition amongtypes of plants and make space for new growth. So suppressingwildfires can actually have a negative impact on a landscapes vegetation and biodiversity.
On the other hand, the researchers note that a reduction in fire also comes witha declinein the carbon emissions it produces, which could be helpful in the fight against climate change. That said, theres the potential that the carbon releasedby the land conversion and agricultural expansion driving these declines may actually offset the reduction infire emissions. A great deal more research will be necessary before scientists can say for sure how all of these changes are affecting the global carbon cycle, Andela said.
And Bowman, the University of Tasmania scientist, also pointed out that this study should not be construed as suggesting the global wildfire crisis is being resolved. Even while burned area is declining on a global scale, human management techniques such as starting fires where they dont belong and suppressing them where they might otherwise naturally occur may actually be priming many landscapes for more-extreme wildfires in the future. Fire suppression, in particular, can sometimes lead to an overabundance of dry fuel in certain areas, and these unburned spacesmay eventually burn ferociously under hotter and drier conditions expected by climate change, Bowman suggested.
Andela also added that overall I wouldnt describe our findings as being a positive thing for the Earth system or global ecosystems. The spread of agriculture and the decrease in natural burning, particularly in grassland ecosystems worldwide, is indicative ofthe profound changes taking place in these natural landscapes, he said.
Thedisappearance of fire from those ecosystemsreally symbolizeshow we are using these last wildernessesof the Earth, he said.
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Scientists find a surprising result on global wildfires: They're actually burning less land - Washington Post
REDLANDS >> Fred and Barbara Ford recently donated a granite hitching post to the Museum of Redlands.
Fred Fords career in Redlands and the Inland Valley in the past 40 years has been in land clearing.
In the 1970s, when the former Jennie Davis-Joe Prendergast house was being moved from Brookside Avenue in Redlands to Sierra Way in Fontana, Ford helped the contractors clear the property, and he retrieved the granite hitching posts from the site.
An apartment complex was then built on that property, which is about 10 lots west of the former Redlands Daily Facts building on Brookside Avenue. The former Facts building will be renovated to house the Museum of Redlands.
The donation of the hitching post has other historic relevance in addition to the post having come from a site near the future museum building.
Fred Ford is the grandson of Isaac Ford, who was city engineer for Redlands, one of the founders of First Baptist Church and the University of Redlands and for whom Redlands Ford Park and Ford Street are named.
Connected to the house that was moved from Brookside Avenue is Jennie Davis daughter Gwen Davis, who married Joe Prendergast. Prendergasts sister was Lucretia Prendergast Moore, who was the wife of wife of Paul Moore, longtime owner of the Redlands Daily Facts.
Lucretia Moore was also the mother of William G. Moore, 40-year publisher and co-owner of the Facts with his brother Frank, and grandmother of Lucretia Moore Irving, who still lives in Redlands.
Bill and Frank Moore owned the Redlands Daily Facts when they had the former Facts building, future home of the Museum of Redlands, built in 1956.
A number of hitching posts still remain in Redlands, but seeing one out of the ground with its hewn-granite base is unusual.
Fred Ford, one of five generations of Fords in Redlands and of four generations who graduated from Redlands High School, noted that hitching posts were hewn from solid granite and often have hairline cracks, making them fragile to move.
The one the Fords donated to the Museum of Redlands has a decorative ball on the top of the post.
Horses were tethered to an iron ring inserted in the hole drilled through the top of each post.
To donate historic items related to Redlands and the Redlands area, contact Maria Carrillo or Nathan Gonzales at the A.K. Smiley Library Heritage Room, 909-798-7632.
Source: Museum of Redlands
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Financial News (subscription) | Euro-clearing land grabbers can still return under a new name Financial News (subscription) Maybe the EU27 will recognise that if they try to grab business from the City on the back of Brexit they will shoot themselves in the foot. Maybe there really is a chance of a deal that preserves much of the City's access to EU markets in return for ... |
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Euro-clearing land grabbers can still return under a new name - Financial News (subscription)
Land clearing in Australia describes the removal of native vegetation and deforestation in Australia. Land clearing involves the removal of native vegetation and habitats, including the bulldozing of native bushlands, forests, savannah, woodlands and native grasslands and the draining of natural wetlands for replacement with agriculture, urban and other land uses.
Of the vegetation which existed in Australia at the time of European settlement, approximately 87% remains.[2]
The primary motivator for land clearing in Australia is agricultural production. Where soil fertility and rainfall allow, the clearing of land allows for increased agricultural production and increase in land values. Land clearing was seen as progressive, and there was the general view that land was wasted unless it was developed.
Historically[when?], land clearing has been supported by the Commonwealth and State Governments as an essential part of improved productivity essential for national economic prosperity. A range of institutional incentives for agriculture increased the economic gain from land clearing, with offerings of cheap land along with venture capital in the form of loans or tax concessions. Other incentives included the War Service Land Settlement Scheme, low interest bank loans and financial support programs such as drought relief assistance.
The majority of cleared land in Australia has been developed for cattle, sheep and wheat production. 46.3% of Australia is used for cattle grazing on marginal semi-deserts with natural vegetation. This land is too dry and infertile for any other agricultural use (apart from some kangaroo culling). Some of this grazing land has been cleared of "woody scrub". 15% of Australia is currently in use for all other agriculture and forestry purposes on mostly cleared land. In New South Wales, much of the remaining forests and woodlands have been cleared, due to the high productivity of the land. Urban development is also the cause of some land clearing, though not a major driver. In The Australian Capital Territory for example, much urban development has occurred on previously cleared agricultural land.
Bushfires in Australia are frequently occurring events during the hotter months of the year.
Land clearing destroys plants and local ecosystems and removes the food and habitat on which other native species rely. Clearing allows weeds and invasive animals to spread, affects greenhouse gas emissions and can lead to soil degradation, such as erosion and salinity, which in turn can affect water quality.
The following table shows the native vegetation inventory assessment[2] of native vegetation by type prior to European settlement and as at 2001-2004.
As land cover is crucial to land condition, land clearing exerts significant pressure on land condition. Removal of vegetation also leaves soil bare and vulnerable to erosion. Soil stability is essential to avoid land degradation.
Soil erosion is a very significant pressure on land condition because it undermines existing vegetation and habitats and inhibits vegetation and other biota that inhabit the vegetation from re-establishing. Terrestrial vegetation is a source of nutrient replenishment for soils. If vegetation is removed, there is less biological matter available to break down and replenish the nutrients in the soil. Exposing soil to erosion leads to further nutrient depletion.
Another consequence of land clearing is dryland salinity. Dryland salinity is the movement of salt to the land surface via groundwater. In Australia there are vast amounts of salt stored beneath the land surface. Much of Australian native vegetation has adapted to low rainfall conditions, and use deep root systems to take advantage of any available water beneath the surface. These help to store salt in the earth, by keeping ground water levels low enough so that salt is not pushed to the surface. However, with land clearing, the reduced amount of water that previously got pumped up by the roots of the trees means that the water table rises towards the surface, dissolving salt in the process. Salinity reduces plant productivity and affects the health of rivers and streams.
The extinction of 108 different species (2 mammal, 9 bird and 97 plant species) has been partially attributed to land clearing.[citation needed] While land condition is one indicator of the pressure of vegetation removal, the health and resilience of the vegetation that remains is also largely dependent on the size of the fragments and their distance from each other. This is also true for species living within these habitat fragments. The smaller and more isolated the remnants, the greater the threat from external pressures as their boundaries (or edges) are more exposed to disturbances. Pressure also increases with the distance between fragments.
Land clearing is a major source of Australias greenhouse gas emissions, contributing approximately 12 percent to Australias total emissions in 1998. It has also been found that past clearing of native vegetation contributed to higher temperatures, decreased rainfall and more intense droughts.[citation needed] The removal of vegetation damages the microclimate by removing shade and reducing humidity. It also contributes to global climate change by diminishing the capacity of the vegetation to absorb carbon dioxide. Land clearing could also be responsible for reduced rainfall levels & possible desertification of land as well as soil erosion.[citation needed]
An organisation checked the impacts on climate extremes and droughts by analysing daily rainfall and surface temperature output from the Mark 3 GCM. This work, the first of its kind, demonstrated an increase in the number of dry days (<1mm rainfall) and hot days (maximum temperature >35C), a decrease in daily rainfall intensity and cumulative rainfall on rain days, and an increase in duration of droughts under modified land-cover conditions. These changes were statistically significant for all years across eastern Australia, and especially pronounced during strong El Nio events. Clearly, these studies have demonstrated that LCC has exacerbated the mean climate anomaly and climate extremes in southwest and eastern Australia, thus resulting in longer-lasting and more severe droughts.
Since the 1980s, the rate of land clearing has declined due to changing attitudes and greater awareness of the damaging effects of clearing.
Clearing is now controlled by legislation in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and to a lesser degree in Queensland. Land clearing controls differ substantially between jurisdictions, and despite growing awareness of the effect of land degradation, controls on clearing have been generally opposed by farmers.
Land clearing is controlled indirectly by federal law in the form of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), which may also apply if there are federally protected threatened species (plant or animal) or endangered ecological communities present on the land in question.
Clearing of native vegetation in NSW is regulated by the Native Vegetation Act 2003(NSW), by the protections on the habitat of threatened species contained in the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW) and the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW). It is also regulated by development control and Environmental Planning Instruments (EPIs) under land use planning law, namely the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW). Federal law in the form of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) may also apply if there are federally protected threatened species (plant or animal) or endangered ecological communities present on the land in question.
Clearing of native vegetation in Queensland is principally regulated by the Vegetation Management Act 1999 and the Vegetation Management (Regrowth Clearing Moratorium) Act 2009. The Federal EPBC Act may also apply (see above).
Clearing of native vegetation in SA is principally regulated by the Native Vegetation Act 1991 (SA). The Federal EPBC Act may also apply (see above).
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