Urlauberinsel La Gomera von Waldbränden heimgesucht

26 April 2008

published by www.paz-online.de

Die Urlauberinsel La Gomera ist am Samstag von Waldbränden heimgesucht worden. Nach Angaben der Behörden wurden fünf Brandherde auf der dicht bewaldeten Kanareninsel gemeldet. Beim Dienst“FlashEarth” gibt es aktuelle Satellitenbilder aus der Gegend.

Mehrere hundert Menschen mussten vor den Bränden fliehen und vorübergehend an den Stränden ihre Quartiere aufschlagen. Informationen über mögliche Opfer der Waldbrände lagen zunächst nicht vor.

Die Feuerwehr, drei Hubschrauber und Dutzende freiwillige Helfer waren im Einsatz, um die Flammen zu bekämpfen. Die Regierung der Nachbarinsel Teneriffa schickte Löschtrupps. Nach Angaben der Behörden bedrohten die Flammen den Garajonay-Nationalpark von La Gomera. Ursache für die Waldbrände seien die Hitze und starke Winde.

Waterbombers finish on high

5 April 2008

published by www.news.com.au

Australia — WA’S daredevil waterbomber pilots are standing down after successfully attacking more than 120 fires this summer.

Flying metres over raging flames, through thick smoke and burning embers is all part of a day’s work for the nine pilots who man four waterbomber bases which dot Perth, the South-West and Albany.
 “I have often said it is like flying into hell,” pilot Phillip Dunn, of Dunn Aviation, said.

“There is a lot of smoke and a lot of flames.

“When you do a direct attack on a roaring head fire, it can be quite challenging.

“It can be quite daunting initially but we plan our approach and exit quite carefully.

“It’s certainly not everybody’s cup of tea and some people don’t last too long.

“Those who do stay really enjoy the job.

“From above, a fire is like a living animal consuming everything in its path.

“Fighting a fire like this takes a lot of concentration and you have to have your wits about you, but it beats sitting behind a desk in a multi-storey office building.

“It’s not dangerous but it has its moments and there are inherent hazardous.”

This summer waterbomber crews, with back-up from the ground and in the air, have helped fight some of the State’s largest fires.

A WA water bomber in action. Picture supplied by Leigh Sage, Department of Environment & Conservation, Swan Coastal District.

The bombers, which are jointly managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation and the Fire and Emergency Services Authority, were called in to combat last month’s rampant fires which threatened homes in Port Kennedy and Carabooda.

DEC fire operations officer Leigh Sage said the bombers played a vital role in fighting bushfires between Kalbarri and Esperance.

The eight planes were based at Jandakot Airport, Bunbury, Manjimup and Albany but were able to operate from a network of regional airfields.

They are used mainly to contain bushfires before they have a chance to blaze out of control but they are also have a vital role in protecting crews working on the ground and saving homes by bathing them in water laced with fire retardant foam.

“We aim to drop 5000 litres of water on to a fire in the first half-hour so that small fires stay small,” he said.

“Basically, the waterbombers attack the fire front and knock it down so that ground crews have time to get in and put it out.

“They are able to operate in remote areas which are often difficult to get to.

“We’ve had some good `saves’ where the waterbombers have been able to stop fires from reaching properties.

“They have proved extremely successful as a first response and continue to be an import part of the department’s fire fighting strategy.”

The bombers were stood down at the end of the summer fire season on Thursday.

 People are in panic due to forest fire

28 April 2008

published by Kantipur Daily 

Nepal — People of Thinban village are Afraide of the fire coming towards their village burning fore seven days in the Laligurans and Chaukhedhunga community forests of Tharmare. They are in the state of confusion ‘whether to escape or remain in the village’.

Villagers are trying to suppress the fire but successed yet. Due to the thick layer of cones of pine in the conifer forest fighting effort is becoming difficult. A local resident Mr. Jhakku Bohara said ‘the village is in danger due to approaching fire. 40-45 houses are adjoining to the burning forest. Though the fire is being fought collectively by vilagers, the fire is not under control yet. Fires were suppressed in some places in day but wind in the night fueling the fire. People are helplessly watching fire approaching towards the village. One house is almost in danger’.

The chairman of the Laligurans community forest Mr. Hari Lal Bhudhathoki said ‘The fire is coming from the Chaukhedhunga community forest. We are trying to suppress the fire from all of our effort. A thick smoke is all around causing pollution to the environment’.

Pine forest shade their cones in March-April in large amount causing locomotion difficult and hampering grass growth. People intentionally set fire to make walk easy and to bust-up the new grasses.

‘Offender is not recognized yet. A large area of trees and medicinal herbs are destroyed’ Bhudhathoki said.

District Forest Office Salyan blame the community forests’ negligence and only profit seeking nature of them are the main reason of this huge loss due to the fire.

Scientists Plot Pollutants’ Path at the Arctic

02 April 2008

published by www.pbs.org

The Arctic is a receptacle of the planet’s air pollutants — from forest fires to human-produced carbon dioxide emissions — and a coordinated international effort is geared toward learning more about pollutants’ effects at the top of the globe.

“The pole is this isolated place that receives pollution from all locations,” explained Jim Crawford, tropospheric chemistry program manager at NASA headquarters. So scientists are working to get a clearer picture of the types of pollutants, their pathways and whether they are human or natural in origin, he said.

A broad international effort called POLARCAT — Polar Study using Aircraft, Remote Sensing, Surface Measurements and Models, of Climate, Chemistry, Aerosols and Transport — incorporates ground stations, airplanes, balloons, ships and satellites to closely study pollutants at the Arctic. Coordinated by Norway, numerous countries are involved including Canada, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

The spotlight, so to speak, is on Arctic haze — the layers of pollution that tend to linger over the Arctic in the winter and spring months. The POLARCAT campaigns aim to learn more about the makeup of these polluted air masses, seasonal changes, effects on snow and ice covers, and how they impact cloud formations.

Researchers also hope to learn where the pollutants originate. For example, the projects will measure chlorofluorocarbons. That class of chemical compounds has been blamed for reducing the Earth’s protective ozone layer and has been banned in some countries but is still in use in others.

The data collected will be added to Earth science models that help forecast air quality and gauge how the Arctic may respond to future environmental changes.

Crawford and NASA radiation scientist Hal Maring are leading one of the sub-projects, called Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites, or ARCTAS.

Under ARCTAS, the United States, France and Germany intend to fly sensor-laden aircraft from Alaska and Canada during three-week periods in April and July. The spring missions will focus on pollution drifting up from northern continents, creating Arctic haze, and the summer flights will take readings when temperatures are warmer and forest fires in northern latitude countries are most active, Crawford said.

The measurements taken during the short-term flights will help validate data from longer-term observations from polar-orbiting satellites.

“It’s the first study that looks at the Arctic atmosphere in understanding climate change and the long-term transport of pollutants,” said Daniel J. Jacob, professor of atmospheric chemistry at Harvard University and an ARCTAS project scientist.

Also in the spring, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is conducting a research cruise with an eye on pollutants from local sources and ship emissions in an ice-free area of the eastern Arctic — in the Greenland, Norwegian and Barents Seas — in a project with the acronym ICEALOT.

The measurements will serve as a baseline, so scientists will later be able to determine whether there is an increase in pollutants from a potential increase in ship traffic due to the loss of ice cover along the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage, according to the agency.

Jacob said the findings from these scientific missions will likely be incorporated into future reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But the policy implications for the environment are less clear and further down the road.

First, he said, the data will be published in scientific journals, where it will be peer-reviewed, and then it will be distilled into documents for the general public and possible use by policy-makers.

Forest fire rages unchecked for 40 hours in China’s Yunnan

8 April 2008

published by english.people.com.cn  

China — A forest fire that broke out on Sunday in a Tibetan-inhabited prefecture in Yunnan Province still rages unchecked, said the fire fighting headquarters on Tuesday.

The fire began at 5:15 p.m. near Luoji village in Shangrila county of Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Deqen, a spokesman of the headquarters said.

The fire has continued for more than 40 hours in an area covered with luxuriant forests. Due to poor communications, the total area affected could not be immediately confirmed.

More than 1,000 people, including police officers, firefighters and local villagers, are fighting the fire.

Investigation into the cause of the fire is under way.