Skip to main content

How Wildfire Endangers Human Life as a Possible infectious Agent

Wildfire has wreaked havoc in various parts of the world with Australia, Brazil and the United States being the sufferers. According to research conducted by the science journal, wildfire poses a great threat to human life.

Humans are advised not to inhale smoke produced by bushfire in order to avoid complications related to respiratory diseases. 

A report published by the Science Magazine on December 18, indicate that exposure to smoke produced by wildfire increases the risk to conduct inflammatory diseases and respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and asthma.

Wildfire is the major source of bio aerosols which is composed of fungi and bacteria whose metabolic by-products are responsible for causing infections to human beings. The research conducted by scientists further found out that the Pyrogenic carbon formed as a result of wildfire acts as a temporary storage for soil microbes that contribute to the attenuation of ultraviolet-B by 80 percent.

Scientists argue that smoke produced by wild land fire must be closely monitored by health authorities. According to their argument, infection causing organisms could be transferred from the soil to the atmosphere as a result of fire outbreak in forests.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), firefighters are at a greater risk of contracting coccidioidomycosis, a fungus that is transferred from the soil to the air when the soils are interrupted.

Scientists who conducted the research were able to capture microbes in smoke and found an alarming 900 distinct types of bacteria and about 100 different fungi.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Human Noise Kills Marine Species, as revealed by Scientists

Scientists have warned that the discord of noise made by humans is harming marine species .  A comprehensive assessment revealed that large noise from human activities was as harmful as pollution, overfishing and climate change .  The study that was conducted by the Journal Science exposed how marine animals can hear from far distances than they can see or smell. According to a report published in the Guardian, most of the marine life uses sound to catch prey as well as attracting a mating partner.  Prof Carlos Duarte of King Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia argued that: “Marine animal can only sea up to around 10 meters, smell up to around a hundred meters, but they can hear across the entire ocean basins.” The research concluded that sound “is very important in the marine ecosystems, and noise is pervasive, affecting animals at all levels .” The increasing cacophony in the marine habitat is interfering with how marine animals respond to various survival...

Carbon dioxide to Make Jet Fuel, Study Reveals

Photo Source: twitter.com Aircrafts release a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which contributes to climate change. A research that was conducted by Science News and reported on December, 22 2020 stated that there was a new iron-based catalyst that has been invented to convert carbon dioxide into jet fuel. It is only a matter of time that carbon dioxide pumped to the atmosphere by planes could be sucked and used to power the same. The air travel’s footprint in carbon emissions could be tremendously curtailed, if the carbon dioxide that is released is recycled to generate fuel. As per Science News reports, Air transport contributes to about 12 percent of the entire transportation carbon-related emissions. Unlike cars, aircrafts cannot carry bigger batteries which can be run on electricity generated from wind or solar panels. The current breakthrough in the conversion of carbon dioxide to fuel involves cheap ingredients such as iron and transformed through a single s...

Why World Tycoons Should Emulate Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, in the Battle against Climate Change

The silent biggest global pandemic is global warming. Global problem deserves global attention; and that is why world moguls and leaders should use their influence to initiate change that can positively impact the world. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has consistently advocated for environment conservation and has been a key personality in the battle against climate change . Gates keen focus has been to increasing access to clean electricity in remote parts of the world. As a key defender of the environment, he is quoted by the Guardian saying that: “The idea of adding new electricity capacity- you can’t just go build coal plants.” The Guardian reported that Gates likes using private jets because he can get affordable fuel for flight. He revealed that he has already footed the bill of carbon footprint to a group dubbed Climeworks , a firm that captures up direct air in Iceland. Gates pointed out that the future of vehicles travels lie with electric cars; but excluded the el...