Bushfire

=Bushfires = //By Carla Blancato and Jessica Vittori //



What are bushfires?
 A bushfire is basically the combustion or burning of bush, forest or woodland area. They are mostly common in Australia but can occur all over the world, especially where there is an abundance of wood, leaves or forest that can burn.

How do they occur?
 For a bushfire to start there needs to be some kind of fuel, like leaves, wood or an ignition flame point. The ignition can be caused naturally by a lightning strike. spontaneous combustion or by delibrate/accidental flame. Especially in Australia, where eucaplyptus tree leaves are common, oil from the leaves act like a fuel and burn very fast and hot.

Youtube video
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAp26V7bl_s

How common are they?
 Bushfires are more common and severe in the South of Australia during the summer and autumn time. The temperatures and landscape make it a more vulnerable place for fires to start. Severity is usually related to seasonal growth.

Compare between now and when the aboriginals were alive
 Ancient indigenous aboriginals learned through thousands of years to use controlled burning to encourage new growth of plants.

How effective is back burning?
 Back burning is effective enough, However, there a ways that the fire can get around it. Some of these include the wind bringing the fire over the back burnt area, therefore assisting it to spread. Also, trees could collapse over the back burnt area and act as a bridge for the fire.

<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(114, 230, 248);">Is it good or bad?
<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Besides the obvious reason that bushfires are bad because they destroy everything in their path, they are also a crucial part in the ecosystem. Environmentally, bushfires can be important to local ecosystems. eg: smoke is sometimes needed for seeds for germinate. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 99%;">