So far this year there have been wildfires around most of the world, in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America and Australia. The only reason there hasn't been wildfires in Antarctica is that we haven't yet perfected the art of burning snow, but you can bet your bottom dollar that some eejit is working on that.
Some habitats and environments, and the life which lives there, have evolved to cope with wildfires. There are landscapes where fire is a natural part of the order, where certain plants will only set seed or release spores after a blaze. In these areas, fire helps to maintain a wider diversity of micro-habitats which will support a greater diversity of life. But this year there have been conflagrations in places where this is not the norm. It is traumatic to think of the loss of human life and damage to property, but we mustn't forget that fires engulf all life that can't outrun or fly from the flames.
We have burnt the past with our reliance on fossil fuels, and now that we are beginning to wean ourselves off coal, oil and gas, we are burning the present thanks to human-induced climate change. Hopefully we won't burn the future, but only because rising sea levels will have dampened our enthusiasm for living on dry land.
This Nature Notes is 82 Fires by Canadian band The East Pointers. The track is about bushfires in Tasmania in 2016 whilst the band were on tour there.
82 Fires by The East Pointers
Darkened clouds rolling over the valley sparked the resting flame
Earth has come to claim her country, screaming out for rain.
Thunder's fixed on the battle drum
pounding summoning a lightning strike.
One by one her heart be
gathered, waiting for the first to light.
Ooooh, I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh 82 fires still burn.
Raised two boys in the land of my
father's tending crops in the fertile fields.
Through depth of frost and fire only took what the land could yield.
We heard old tales of 82 fires, smoke turned day to night.
And legends told there would come a time
when their return would follow their might.
Ooooh, I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh, 82 fires still burn.
The clearing's quiet,
the air's been taken to the furnace over the rise.
The last red sun has been shredded by the smoke that stings our eyes.
We always knew that on this land we would live and die,
but here we stand among 82 fires, speak our breath as goodbye.
Ooooh I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh 82 fires still burn.
Ooooh I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh 82 fires still burn.
Earth has come to claim her country, screaming out for rain.
Thunder's fixed on the battle drum
pounding summoning a lightning strike.
One by one her heart be
gathered, waiting for the first to light.
Ooooh, I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh 82 fires still burn.
Raised two boys in the land of my
father's tending crops in the fertile fields.
Through depth of frost and fire only took what the land could yield.
We heard old tales of 82 fires, smoke turned day to night.
And legends told there would come a time
when their return would follow their might.
Ooooh, I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh, 82 fires still burn.
The clearing's quiet,
the air's been taken to the furnace over the rise.
The last red sun has been shredded by the smoke that stings our eyes.
We always knew that on this land we would live and die,
but here we stand among 82 fires, speak our breath as goodbye.
Ooooh I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh 82 fires still burn.
Ooooh I don't know when the wind'll turn,
Ooooh 82 fires still burn.
Ironically, I was at a bioblitz today. It rained.
Comments
Post a Comment