Rise in average temp causing more forest fires across country

NEWDELHI: The death of nine trekkers in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district was a tragedy waiting to happen with rising forest fires emerging as a threat to environment and life in the state and across the country.

In Tamil Nadu alone, the number of reported forest fires has increased from 89 in 2013 to 301 in 2017. In the same period, forest fires almost doubled in India, from 18,451 in 2013 to 35,888 in 2017. The trend is driven in part by better reporting, but also increasing average temperatures across India, particularly in TN, and dry foliage because of lack of rainfall, according to experts. “The year we get less winter rainfall, the summer temperatures are higher, forests become highly prone to fires especially those that are near human habitation,” said Amit Kumar Verma, a researcher at the Forest Reported forest fires almost doubled three times Fires went up Research Institute.

Tamil Nadu has seen both rising temperatures and dry conditions.