BushFire Fear Shuts Schools in Australia

A lack of rain and a predicted change in wind has made conditions the most dangerous in recent weeks.More than 3,000 firefighters are still fighting major blazes following the 7 February firestorm that killed 210 people and left thousands homeless.Temperatures are predicted to rise towards 40C , accompanied by high winds and low humidity.


More than 200 schools have been closed in south-eastern Australia as the government warned of an intensified fire risk ahead of the weekend.The state of Victoria was put on a high fire alert and dozens of fires continue to burn there."We have an extremely dry fuel load, and therefore extreme fire danger," Victoria's state emergency services commissioner Bruce Esplin told reporters.

People in areas near the fires needed to decide early whether to evacuate their homes, or stay and defend their properties, adding it was too late to leave once the flames were in sight.
Many of those killed 20 days ago died in their cars as they attempted to outrun the fires.The country's biggest-ever arson investigation is continuing into the causes of some of the fires.

Forest Fire in Nilgiri Biosphere Area

Nilgiri Biosphere Area occurs at the Tri Junction spot of Kerala-Tamilnadu-Karnataka, the south Indian states. Forest fires of varying intensity have occurred in the protected areas of Nilgiri biosphere Reserve over the past 8 days. The fires have caused some damage in wild life sanctuaries of Bandipur, Nagarhole National Park in karnataka, Wayanad Sanctuary in Kerala and Mudhumalai Sanctuary in Tamilnadu during the second week of February.

The Forest ministers of south-Indian states held a conference to discuss the ways to preserve the Biosphere area. In the meeting it was decided that the three south Indian states must act together in sorting out this issue in a smooth manner. Almost all forest fires are caused by humans as they enter the protected areas illegally. Fire Maps are supplied as a part of the Fire information for Resource Management System in order to enable managers of protected areas to react to fires instantly. According to reports of 2006, the National Forest commission pointed out that Evergreen forests are subjected to fire on large scale and the frequency of forest fires are increasing rapidly.

Forest fires often linked to excessive livestock grazing and careless human behavior destroy biodiversity. Fragmentation of wild life habitats arising from loss of forest connectivity is a serious limiting factor for wild life and this type of fragmentation are mostly caused by Big Fires in the forest reserve areas. Also forest fires cause decline in species diversity, seedling and sapling density and tree densities. This could have a major impact on our ecosystem and we must look forward to protect forests on a long term basis for a healthy environment all round thee world.