International Day of Forests is commemorated every year on March 21 across the world. Forests have played an essential part in the progress of humankind, they play a major role in providing humans with food, water, shelter and help in endless ways. 

The day is celebrated to create awareness amongst everyone about the significance of forests. How it should not be underestimated, mainly because we depend on them for our survival, whether it’s the fresh air we breathe or the resources they provide, forests have been very important.

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In the recent times, forest fires or wildfires have caused a lot of trouble and disturbed the biodiversity to a great extent. Forest fires are unwanted, unplanned and uncontrolled fire which usually start in the peak time of a drought or is caused by the heat of sun, though a lot of forest fires take place due to human carelessness as well.

Let’s take a look at four recent wildfires that left the nature with an irreparable damage:

Australia Wildfire 2019-20

The forest fire in Australia was one of the most devastating wildfires in recent history. In November 2019, fires rapidly spread across all the states of the country. Approximately, 25.5 million acres, an area close to the size of South Korea, got burned. The fires killed or harmed around 3 billion animals throughout the country, and the scenes of devastation finally ended after three months in February 2020, killing 34 people in the incident. 

Siberia Wildfire 2019

The wildfire started in July 2019 in remote areas of Siberia, by the end of the month, it grew and reached around 3 million hectares, an area roughly equal to that of Belgium. The air quality in Siberia went down to a new low and the fires harmed the natural habitat of the forest.

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California Wildfires 2020

The wildfires in the region were one of the worst fires in the history of the state. Around 1.7 million hectares of the forest got burned, leaving overall damage of around $12 billion including forest and property damages.

Amazon Wildfires 2019

The forest fires that took place in Amazon rainforests in 2019 left the forests in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay with an unprecedented loss to nature. Large swathes of Amazon forest, which is also known as the lungs of the earth got destroyed by the fires. Around 906,000 hectares of forests got burned, leaving Brazil alone with many billion dollars of damage.