This week I decided to do my current event on natural disasters, more specifically forest fires. Forest fires are some of the most powerful natural forces known to man. One of the reasons I chose forest fires as my global issue for this week is because I can remember hearing about forest fires all the time when I was younger and seeing a smoky bear sign at almost every beach i went to, and I have always wanted to know more about it. Although some forest fires are caused by lightning strike most are human-caused. Climate change also plays a huge role in forest fires all over the United States. As climate change gets worse we get warmer and warmer weather, causing drought which dries out the forest, shrubs, and grass causing more and more forest fires. Forest fires can burn thousands of acres of land using weather wind and dry underbrush as fuel. They can move at speeds up to fourteen miles per hour enveloping everything in their path. For a forest fire to burn it needs three things, fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. The more an areas fuel load the larger and more intense the fire. If the heat source is not hot enough the fire will not burn because it has to be able to dry out the fuel to burn it. To put out a forest fire the fire fighters have to take away one of the three essential things. The most commonly used methods are to clear out shrubbery to deprive the fire of fuel and to douse it with water and or fire retardant. Forest fires are a very serious thing and occur in almost all fifty states. They destroy thousands of homes and farm land every year. If climate change does not slow down and drought out west continues, I do not think that we will be seeing a shortage of forest fires anytime soon.