Caution : fire risk !
Robin des Bois and GEIDE post-disaster
Nobody can be blamed for the outbreak and consequences of earthquakes of large magnitude. For forest fires, it’s a different story. Only the lightning escapes human responsibility. Man is the cause of more than 9 out of 10 forest fires.
Barbecues, gas stoves, cigarettes, motorcycle incursions, quadbikes or other vehicles with internal combustion engines, campfires, fireworks and combustible wastes are all risks of fire in an environment that is vulnerable to conflagration. A spark can ignite thousands of acres and a small fire can in a few seconds become uncontrollable.
“Forest Fires: Beware the Radioactive Fallout”
The site Arzamas-16 is threatened by forest fires since the middle of July 2010. The exact location of the storage and waste on the site is unknown. The current management of plutonium storage, enriched uranium and nuclear warheads are the subject of diverging information. The military site is in activity since 1946. For more than half a century, experiments and nuclear activities have left undeniable traces on the site (see the assembly of photos). If the fire reaches strategic and radioactive sectors this could spark a major event but also cause global contamination. The Russian government and fire fighters lack of insight to foresee the risk caused by the fires around this dangerous site and to control them is shocking.
Forest Fires: Beware the Radioactive Fallout
Forest fires and slash and burn farming are a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gases which in his book “Forests: The Shadow of Civilization”*, Professor Robert Harrison suggests to call the “fever effect”.
Russia is an expert in the matter. Satellite observations show that the extent of forest fires is always downplayed by the authorities. 2 million hectares were declared burnt in 2003 while 14 million were observed. During the summer of 2006, cinders and soot from fires around St Petersburg caused high concentrations of particles and air pollution in Finland, Scotland and Northern England. Forest fires are an important source of mercury scattering in the atmosphere.
