A number of disasters are launched. Scientists have understood how forest fires cause landslides and floods

Climatologists warn that a record high temperatures will probably be preserved in 2025, and therefore, the world will encounter more forest fires similar to those that have raged in Canada and Greece, SCI Tech Daily writes. Earlier, researchers thought that the wax layer in the burned soil causes water to drain on the ground, resulting in large -scale floods and landslides. However, recent studies show that the burned soil can actually absorb water.

Scientists believe that these data can help in precise prediction of floods and shifts after a fire. In focus. Technology has appeared its Telegram channel. Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! For example, in 2020, in the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, one of the most destructive forest fires occurred, which destroyed more than 11 00 acres and destroyed 1. 5 hundred buildings.

However, the disaster did not stop even when firefighters managed to suppress a stormy fire. Later, storm rains in these burned areas can lead to floods, landslides and mudflows, which will only exacerbate the destruction left by the fire. Scientists fear that such floods and shifts will only become more in the conditions of the climatic crisis that our planet is experiencing.

Researchers now believe that understanding how water accumulates in the soil, as well as tracking runoff and river runoff in fire areas will help the authorities predict when and where these disasters can occur after forest fires. Thus, the authorities will have more time to protect the inhabitants from sudden floods and the movement of debris.

It is well known that the loss of vegetation during the forest fire makes the soil vulnerable to erosion, since the roots of plants that hold the soil in place, fade and die. However, scientists believed that during the burning of the leaves, their wax plaque forms an organic oily substance on the soil surface. This wax coating creates a so -called layer that repels moisture, causing the soil to absorb water anymore. However, a new study now calls this theory.

Researchers at the College of Literature, Arts and Sciences of Southern California in Dornseife in cooperation with researchers at the University of Michigan, the US Geological Service and Rutgers University conducted a study that watched two rainy seasons after Bobcat fire from December 2020 to March 2022. The authors of the study concluded that the water is actually absorbed by the burned earth, despite the wax coating.

During the study, scientists studied three watersheds - land, from which rainy and melt water merge into streams and rivers. At the same time, two of these watersheds were burned during a forest fire, while the third, located in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California, mostly remained intact. Researchers found that after a forest fire, a large part of the water flow in all three watersheds came from the water that was absorbed into the ground.

According to the leading author of the study, the Professor of the Earth Sciences, they and colleagues found that the flow of water and garbage in the streams of the burned area was 4-10 times greater than the stream in the stream in the unexpected territory. However, it seemed the most strange that storm water soaked the ground in both burnt watersheds.

At the same time, in the watersheds that survived, trees absorbed water without giving it to the stream, scientists came to the conclusion that an increase in the amount of water in rivers occurred through the burned areas, in which trees and plants simply could not keep water in their roots. Thus, scientists have come to the conclusion that the wax layer, which is formed after a forest fire, does not actually interfere with the absorption of water by soil.

However, scientists fear that the accumulation of water is a constant threat. Identifying areas prone to mudflows and villages, and accurate forecasting of the number of mudflows after rain in fire zones depends on the understanding of how water penetrates into the soil in different areas and how it promotes the flow of streams.