Forest fire protection in Poland and Europe > Why are forests so important? > What is EFFIS? DATA -> KNOWLEDGE -> ACTION THE FIRE DANGER CLASSES CURRENT SITUATION > SITUATION IN POLAND > TEMPERATURE IN FIRE > ANNOUCEMENT SOURCES AUTHORS

Why are forests so important? Forests pump out the oxygen we need to live and absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale (or emit). Just one adult leafy tree can produce as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year. Plankton are more prolific, providing half of Earth's oxygen, but forests are still a key source of breathable air. Some 300 million people live in forests worldwide, including an estimated 60 million indigenous people whose survival depends almost entirely on native woods. Many millions more live along or near forest fringes, but even just a scattering of urban trees can raise property values and lower crime. Trees also have another way to beat the heat: absorb CO2 that fuels global warming. Plants always need some CO2 for photosynthesis, but Earth's air is now so thick with extra emissions that forests fight global warming just by breathing. CO2 is stored in wood, leaves and soil, often for centuries. We herald houseplants for purifying the air, but don't forget forests. They can clean up air pollution on a much larger scale, and not just the aforementioned CO2. Trees catch and soak in a wide range of airborne pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

What is EFFIS? The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) supports the services in charge of the protection of forests against fires in the EU countries and provides the European Commission services and the European Parliament with updated and reliable information on wildland fires in Europe. Since 1998, EFFIS is supported by a network of experts from the countries in what is called the Expert Group on Forest Fires, which is registered under the Secretariat General of the European Commission. Currently, this group consists on experts from 40 countries in European, Middle East and North African countries. In 2015, EFFIS became one of the components of the Emergency Management Services in the EU Copernicus program.

EFFIS normally operates using meteorological forecastdata received daily from 3 systems, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF), French (MeteoFrance) and German (DWD) meteorological services.

Fire danger is mapped in 6 classes (very low, low, medium, high, very high and extreme) with a spatial resolution of about 16 km (ECMWF data), 10 km (MF data) and 36 km (DWD data). The fire danger classes are the same for all countries and maps show a harmonized picture of the spatial distribution of fire danger level throughout EU. The following are the FWI values used as thresholds of the fire danger classes in the map:

Current situation (18th April)

A little bit of Poland’s history The usual cause of the fire in Poland's forests is heat. The biggest fire in history took place 26th of August 1992 in Kuźnia Raciborska. The number of victims was huge. Three people died, 50 went to the hospital. The wind was making it all hard to save. Our firemen made such a great job, but officially the fire was ended by the storm.

There weren’t any bigger fire than this one There weren’t any bigger fire than this one. Today, even if the surface of the forestsin Poland is 29,4%,the situation is quite good. Current situation from 19th of April

How the temperature is changing while the fire is spreading?

ANNOUCEMENT People are so reckless these days. They only think about themselves and as long as they are happy because of money, they’re ready to do everything to keep their position. One big skyscraper which belongs to them? That’s too few. The result of this greed is many forests’ death. Let’s this presentation be a warning for people who don’t think about our environment. Plants are living organisms with their own way of living so why don’t we let them just live? Think about it!

Thank you for your attention!

Sources: Slide 2 - http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/21-reasons-why-forests-are-important author: Russel McLenon Slides 3-6 , 8– The official website of The European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) - http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu Slide 9 – „Inside the fire” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPa_yEEd4E Music – „Forest Music Instrumental - Raindrop Woods” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL7VADWgGUI&feature=youtu.be

Authors: Ilona Biskup Jakub Bochenek Klasa I el Adrian Polak Zespół Szkół Ponadgimnazjalnych nr 5 w Krośnie