Fires, you say?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Three hundred years for a cedar is Carlson's age. Even more so for larch. For Scots pine, these are already venerable years. But it is impossible to see such a tree not on the top of a forest hill, but in the middle of a forest plain. This is usually explained by the fires methodically devastating the taiga. Is it really?

Many have noticed the absence of venerable trees in our forests. There are opinions that there are no more trees older than two hundred years.

It is quite possible that in many places of residence this is exactly the picture. Where I grew up, it was possible to speak about the age of the forest in almost the same way, with the exception of the elevated places available in the Middle Urals, where there are trees that have survived a two-hundred-year mark, and a three-century one, and maybe even more.

That three hundred, that four hundred years for a cedar - the age of Carlson. Even more so for larch. For Scots pine, these are already venerable years. But it was impossible to see such a tree not on the top of a forest hill, but in the middle of a forest plain.

This is usually explained by fires, methodically devastating taiga areas and preventing poor trees from surviving to retirement.

I ask you to forgive me for my irony (if it hurts someone) and to be patient until the end of this note, after reading which, I hope, everything will fall into place.

For analysis, I took statistics on well-burning territories - this is the South Urals and beyond the Urals.

Tyumen region. The data are given for the forests of the State Forest Fund with a total area of 1199.7 thousand hectares. For the period from 1985 to 2004. In the territory of the study area, 5479 forest fires occurred, while the area covered by fire was 38197 hectares.

Let's calculate 38/1199 * 100% = 3, 17% of the forest area burned for 19 years.

3.17% / 19 = 0.17% per year

Orenburg region. The total number of fires in the forest fund of the Orenburg region. over 23 years, from 1990 to 2012, amounted to 3671 with a total area covered by fires of 19042 hectares. As of January 1, 2011, the total forest area of the Orenburg region is 709 thousand hectares.

19042/709000 * 100% = 2.69% over 23 years.

2.69% / 23 = 0.11% per year.

Yakutia. Here are the most catastrophic fires. The area of Yakutia is 308 352 300 hectares. 11,500,000 hectares of area of fires. The calculation was approximated from two sources, which are referenced in this paragraph.

11,500,000 / 164,000,000 * 100% = 7% over 24 years. It should be noted that 7,100,000 hectares or 65% of the fires occurred in 2011-2013.

7% / 24 = 0.29% per year.

Altai region. The forest fund is 3561.5 thousand hectares, as of 01.01.2008, the total area of fires is 390,000 hectares from 1950 to 2014.

390/3561 * 100 = 10.9% over 64 years.

10.9 / 64 = 0.17% per year.

The largest percentage of fires was in Yakutia - 0.29% per year. But, statistics are statistics, you should still get the average percentage. 0.17 + 0.11 + 0.29 + 0.17 = 0.74 / 4 = 0.185 = 0.19% per year

For further calculations I will take a figure of 0.2%. Divide 100% of the forest area by this figure: 100 / 0.2 = 500 years

Simple calculations show that it takes five hundred years for the carpet to burn out. An important conclusion follows from this - in the forest you can find trees up to 500 years old, groves of trees 450 years old, groves 400 years old, pine forests 350 years old and a lot of young growth 300 years or less. And not on the slides, but everywhere! We observe a completely different picture - neither at a respectable age, nor in a "well-fed", and even that younger, at the age of 200 years, there are no trees.

Of course, fires do their bit. But clearly, they are not the real cause of forest destruction in the Eurasian territory

To remove possible objections, I will cite one quote:

9. The main culprit of forest fires is humans. In the subzone of pre-steppe pine-birch forests and the Tyumen forestry enterprise, among the anthropogenic causes of forest fires, careless handling of fire by the local population prevails, and in the subzone of the northern forest-steppe, agricultural fires prevail. Natural causes (lightning) account for only 1% of the total number of forest fires that have arisen".

Just think, my dears - 1% !! One percent !!

Yes, I'm ten - for the eyes. Let ten percent of fires be natural, not just one. If only because people lived before. They lived, but did not mischief. I multiply 500 by 10 and get 5000 years. These are the trees that should grow in our forests. If not for the regular pole shift, causing planetary catastrophes. I hope this simple work will remove the official charges from the unfortunate fires, which turned out to be just hairdressers on separate edges of the taiga.

Yes.. one more thing. Look at this snapshot

All previous reasoning assumed such fires destroying the forest. But the figures mentioned here suggest, among other things, ground fires, after which the forest lives a full life. I remember how children were guessing, standing between half-meter pines, and how many years ago there was a fire in this part of the forest? An example of such a fire is in the photo at the beginning of the article. I will back up my words with a sign

About 1% are territories where everything was destroyed by fire.

If I buried the arguments of my opponents above, then with this percentage I had to drive an aspen stake into the grave of official explanations.

I think that the slight irony at the beginning of the article is fully justified.