Causes Of Bushfires Essay

What characterises this kind of event

Bushfires are a mostly natural phemomena and largest natural hazard which is caused by many factors, but for a fire to start there needs to be fuel which can be in the forms of wood or leaves which can cause it to reach an ignition point.
The causes of bushfires can be spontaneous combustion, lighting or even an accidental flame.
Australia in particual have very severe fires due to the native eucalyptus tree which contains large amounts of oil.
Even if this is the case, bushfires are an important part of regulating the natural ecosystem and landscape with many of Australia 's native plants needing fires to regenerate and flourish as well as much of the fauna is dominated by drought and fire tolerant vegetation. Between 1967 and 1999 bushfires cost $2.5 billion which is 7.1% of australias cost for natural disasters. These fires are not just

The first factor that leads the process of developing a bushfire is the terrain or topography. A fire can burn faster uphill, this is due to the fact that flames can reach more unburnt fuel as well as the radiant heat that pre-heats the fire front making it more flammable. Every 10 degree slope a fire can double its speed. For instance if a fire is travelling at 10km an hour along a flat and reaches a 10 degree slope it will double the rate in which it spreads to 20km an hour up the slope, but it does not only make it go faster by increasing the speed, it also increases in intensity and becomes even hotter. The same rules apply in reverse for downhill. Secondly wind has a large influence on the speed in which the fire spreads, the intensity of the fire due to the amount of oxygen, The chances of spotting which is the embers that the wind carries from the fire which can cause spot fires to occur as well as ember