Dr. Kamil Leziak, an climatologist from the Department of Physical Geography at the University of Warsaw, assessed in an interview with PAP that if climate change will continue, in several dozen years the situation in Poland will be similar to that in California or Australia. Every year we will have a growing fire risk – he emphasized.
According to Dr. Leziak, we are dealing with a dynamic increase in air temperature in recent years, which directly translates into an increased fire risk.
According to IMGW, most of Europe, including Poland, is under the influence of the boom from Latvia. On Thursday, there will usually be cloudless in the country, only slight cloudiness will appear in places. Maximum temperature from 25 degrees C, 27 degrees Celsius in the northeast to 32 degrees Celsius, 33 degrees Celsius in the south, west and locally in the center.
– A greater number of warnings regarding the risk of fires in forests is a consequence of higher and higher air temperature values in Poland and Europe, this trend has been recorded in many different studies. We are dealing with increased heat, with a higher temperature in the summer, which makes the forest litter dry faster – said the expert.
As the climatologist pointed out, the forest inspectorates often send warnings when the forest mulch “is even smaller than a sheet of paper.” – When it is so dry, very little is needed to cause a fire. Even a small, accidental fire can have very serious consequences – he noted.
Dr. Leziak emphasizes that everyone's behavior is very important when it comes to protecting both forests and other places where the fire could spread – dried meadows, wasteland, places with unpaid, dry grass.
– All such places with such dried grassy vegetation are places where the threat can be really high. In this situation, people can take actions to reduce the risk of fires primarily in two ways. The first of them refers to significantly limit the use of fire in the area where he could get over. For example, it's about smoking, using lighters – said the climatologist.
He added that even a cigarette butter looks like a fire or smoldering heat can be seen, it can have such a high temperature that dried grass or forest litter can deal with fire.
– We do not have to have an open flame to cause a fire: all you need to do is that something is very, very hot and in such a situation there may be spontaneous ignition after exceeding the critical temperature, which also depends, among others On how much moisture is in a given place – the expert explained.
– Now we also have a holiday and recreation season, so barbecue and bonfires are another threat. Even if the grill is in a metal bowl, container, and the bonfire is in a designated place, surrounded by stones, when we have a very intense fire that lifts up the coal particles, a tribute or other small materials that frog, in this warm air they can wandered up to several dozen meters and settle in a dry area. In this way, we can, unfortunately, cause a fire – he explained.
The second way to reduce the risk of causing a fire is – as an expert accentuates – not launching forests and meadows. Dr. Leziak explains that “all glass waste, i.e. bottles, broken glass” can be extremely dangerous.
– Even if we have, say, a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, in the worst case such a fragment of the glass can focus the rays of the sun so that in this particular place grass or litter can warm up to up to 80 degrees Celsius, 90 degrees C.
When asked whether there is a country that illustrates, what the situation in Poland may look like in a few years, the expert assessed that we are going towards countries from the Mediterranean Pool, and even Australia or California in the United States.
– In the future, we can expect that both heat waves and fire hazards that will intensify will also cause problems with air pollution, smoke, limited visibility, material losses or the death of people in fires. If we do nothing on a global scale with climate change, in a few dozen years the situation in Poland and other Central European countries will look similar to what we are already observing in California or Australia – said Dr. Leziak.
Agata Gutowska (PAP)
AGG/ BST/ KTL/
