Here’s how Israel can fight forest fire
26 August 2022
Published by: https://www.jpost.com
ISRAEL – The climate crisis has led to drastic weather changes in many parts of the world, causing natural disasters and widespread forest fires.
Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund has been working on this issue for many years and is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with an emphasis on preserving critical assets that nature has to offer – the forests and the plant world.
“There are extreme climate changes taking place in the world,” says Lior Gottesman-Fischer, project manager of KKL-JNF’s Climate Center and coordinator of climate issues at KKL-JNF. “Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the Earth’s temperature has risen by one degree, and if it rises another degree, life may change beyond repair. We are in the midst of an event that can be defined as the sixth extinction, only that, unlike in the past, this is due to human activity and the burning of fuels.”
Gottesman- Fischer explains that the fuels we burn and release into the atmosphere come from buried trees and bones that underwent underground processes that took millions of years until they became fossil fuels, such as oil. The burning of those fuels releases the carbon that was trapped in those trees into the atmosphere.
“These gases are trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere,” she adds, “and as the coverage solidifies, they are trapped and can’t get out. To prevent a disaster, we need to stop the climate crisis and ensure that the amount of emissions equals the amount of absorption by 2050, which is where trees play an important role.
Just as the burning of trees, whether for clearing forests or burning fuel, is a significant part of the problem, trees themselves are a major part of the solution to the climate crisis.
“Companies that emit greenhouse gases today are supporting the planting of trees and carbon offsetting,” says Gottesman-Fischer. “In an extreme state of climate change, the entire system will get out of control, the polar glaciers will melt and expose more dark areas, which will make the temperature rise even more, sea levels will rise, and the currents will cool the Earth less. As a result of global warming, the forests, such as the Amazon rain forest, become drier and burn more easily. When they burn, more carbon is released into the atmosphere.”
Gottesman-Fischer says there are two main ways to deal with the crisis. One is to limit emissions by switching to renewable energies, consuming less and increasing the absorption of what is emitted into the atmosphere (mitigation). The other is to prepare for what is to come (adaptation).
“The climate crisis is already here, and we feel it in the scorching summers,” she notes. “It means we must prepare for fires and extreme weather events like floods, wildfires and droughts. Israel is in the Middle East, which is a hot spot and is more sensitive to the climate crisis.”