Наслідки катастрофічних ландшафтних пожеж в Україні для лісових екосистем та населення

Abstract

Recent studies show an increase in the number and frequency of catastrophic forest fires in the world since the end of the XX century. Such forest fires often will cause essential economic and environmental losses, human casualties. According to forecasts, in Ukraine due to climate change fire weather danger will steadily grow: temperatures rising, changing seasons duration, prolongation of the vegetative and fire season, increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves and natural hydrometeorological phenomenon, change of local water patterns. Several catastrophic fires in the natural landscapes of Ukraine occurred in 2020 in different regions of the country. Wildfires in Zhytomyr, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions were the largest and most catastrophic in Ukrainian history, with human casualties, large economic losses, environmental and social negative consequences. The main parameters of such catastrophic fires weather conditions, long period without precipitation, high air temperature and wind gusts of 15-25 m/s. There are two main critical periods in Ukraine, in terms of frequency and risk of forest fires. The first, spring, from the melting snow to the regeneration of a new green cover. The second period lasts from the last month of summer into the autumn rainy season when agricultural vegetation dries up and people and farmers use fires for remnants of vegetation clearing in the fields. The catastrophic landscape fires of 2020 indicate the gaps of the current fire management system on natural and cultural landscapes in Ukraine to effectively respond to large fires. The current system needs enhancement in accordance with new conditions and challenges. The manuscript presented information about catastrophic fires that occurred in the natural landscapes of Ukraine in 2020 based on available official information, remote sensing data and data from the geoportal "Landscape Fires of Ukraine" (wildfires.org.ua). Also in the article, performed the analysis of the components of the current fire management system and the main shortcomings and key recommendations for its improvement are formulated.