Lesson video

Hello, Mrs. Harking here.

Today, we're going to be exploring the Siberian wildfires.

These are wildfires that happened in Siberia and Russia and destroyed 1,298 buildings.

Today's lesson is called the Siberian Wildfires.

Our outcome today is to be able to say why wildfires occur and talk about the impact of the Siberian wildfires.

Our keywords today that we're going to be using in the lesson are listed here.

If you'd like to pause the video at any point and note down any of these to help you, that is absolutely fine.

First keyword is global warming.

This means the increase in the Earth's average temperature over a long period of time.

We've got habitat, the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.

Boreal forest, this is the world's largest land biome found in the northern hemisphere.

And carbon sink, anything that absorbs and stores more carbon dioxide than it releases.

If you'd like to pause the video now, do so.

Our lesson outline today looks at what caused the Siberian wildfires and then what were the impacts of the Siberian wildfires.

So first of all, what caused the Siberian wildfires? Siberia is a large area in the Northern Hemisphere.

It covers most of Eastern Russia.

You can see it on the globe here.

Name the country Siberia is located in.

Well done.

It's Russia.

Wildfires are uncontrolled fires that spread very quickly through dry vegetation.

For example, forests, grasslands, or shrublands.

Wildfires often occur due to dry hot conditions and an ignition source.

So an ignition source is what lights the fire.

What actually sets fire to that first bit of grass, bit of dead leaves, whatever it is.

Okay, what first sets that fire, lights that fire.

So these sources can be lightning could start a fire, and that's a natural cause, or they could be human-induced.

So human activity such as campfires, poorly managed agricultural burns.

So sometimes burning can happen in farming.

Agriculture has to do with farming.

So that can sometimes happen and they can be very carefully managed and can be okay, but if they aren't managed carefully, then this can happen.

Then dropped cigarettes can start a fire, and also arson, so arson is illegally starting a fire.

So that's literally somebody trying to start that fire.

So wildfires are then exacerbated, that means made worse, by the weather.

So if there's a local fire, small fire that's been triggered say by lightning strike, then we have hot dry conditions and strong winds, that's going to mean that that wildfire will spread really fast and become a true wildfire.

So the hot dry conditions mean that there's dry leaf litter, which can catch fire really easily.

Leaf litter just means the leaves that have fallen from the trees.

And if they dry out, they act as brilliant fuel for a fire.

Check for understanding now.

True or false.

Wildfires are started only by natural causes.

For example, lightning strikes.

What do you think? Is that true or false? Can you tell me why as well? Very good.

Well done.

Yes, it is false, and the why is really important.

So wildfires can be ignited by humans as well, not just natural causes.

The reason they're called wild is because they spread fast through vegetation.

Well done.

Let's have a look at the effects that global warming has on wildfires.

So it actually increases the likelihood of wildfires.

This is because the higher temperatures increase the chance of drought.

You can see on the left image at the top that we've got very dry pine needles.

But the same would happen if you were in a different forest where you didn't have pine trees.

So this is leading to more fuel in the form of dry leaves and twigs.

And then there's more lightning in some forests as well, which can ignite fires.

And that's because of the changes in the storms that are happening because of global warming.

So we've got a source of ignition and we've got a reason why these fires are exacerbated as well, all linked to global warming.

The number of the most extreme fires could actually rise by 50% by the year 2100.

That's a lot.

Siberia often experiences wildfires in its boreal forests.

2022 was a particularly bad year for wildfires in the region.

This is just one example of where we have wildfires.

There are many, many wildfires across the world.

For example, I'll list some now.

We've got Canada, the USA, Australia, particularly in 2020.

There's really bad fires there.

Bush fires that we experienced there.

The Amazon, both the rainforest and the wetlands in South America have experienced really bad wildfires, especially in 2022 and 2023.

The Tigray wildfires in Ethiopia and Africa as well were terrible.

In 2023, Cape Town in South Africa was deeply affected.

And then in 2021, the Chilaka wildfires in India as well.

So there's no continent of the world that has forests that hasn't experienced wildfires in some form, and there are loads of examples of these sorts of wildfires.

We're focusing on Siberian wildfires in these boreal forests.

Remember, the boreal forests are the largest biome, so it's really significant.

The 2022 Siberian wildfires may have ignited due to: camp fires getting out of control, poorly managed agricultural burns, so that's remember being used to help farming but not being managed correctly, and then also lightning.

So this is what's ignited these fire, what set the fire, lit the fire to start with.

Then they were exacerbated or made worse by record-high summer temperatures, prolonged drought, strong winds, and fires left to burn unchecked in remote areas.

Check for understanding now.

Which of the following ignited the Siberian wildfires in 2022? Is it A, fires were left to burn unchecked in remote regions? B, lightning, campfires, and poorly managed agricultural burns? Or C, dry leaves caused by droughts and strong winds? That one was a bit trickier.

The correct answer was B, lightning, campfires, and poorly managed agricultural burns.

And that's because the question focused on ignition, what lit that fire to start with, not what was maintaining that fire or exacerbating that fire, making it worse.

It is task time.

So we're going to complete the table to separate the causes of ignition, what lights that fire to start with, from the factors that exacerbate the fire, make it worse.

We're also going to split this into natural and human causes.

So we're breaking it down quite clearly here.

I'll let you spend some time completing this table now.

So feel free to pause the video.

So I have got here, actually the only natural cause of ignition is a lightning.

Human causes could include campfires and poorly managed agricultural burn.

Factors that exacerbate the fires, the natural causes, we have got record-high summer temperatures, high temperatures would be fine there.

Prolonged drought.

Remember, drought is below average rainfall.

Strong winds.

And then in our human factors, we've got fires were left to burn unchecked in remote areas.

So not managing that fire, not controlling it in the way that we should.

It's worth noting that when we look at this natural factors section that exacerbate the fires, it could be argued that the record-high summer temperatures could be caused by humans because they are linked to global warming and humans have a big role in global warming.

So we could say that if you've put that into the bottom box, I could understand why you've done that.

I would say including it in the top box as well would be a very good idea.

Brilliant.

We're onto the second section of our lesson now.

What were the impacts of the Siberian wildfires? 2022 Siberian wildfires affected humans and the environment significantly.

How do you think the wildfires would've affected humans and wildlife? Pause the video if you'd like to take a minute to discuss.

The impacts of the 2022 Siberian wildfires on humans included 1,298 buildings burned down, including 200 homes.

I mentioned this at the start because this is just such a staggering fact.

The smoke from the wildfires was hazardous to human health.

So that was immediately, but also more long term.

And according to Moscow times, at least 13 people died in these fires.

The smoke from the wildfires could actually affect people's health that did survive from the wildfires.

So if they breathe then a lot of that smoke, that could lead to breathing difficulties and that could have long-term effects, but also even heart disease because the particulates could actually get through all the way to the bloodstream.

So these are potential threats to the survivors of this horrible disaster.

Time for another check for understanding.

Which of the following was an impact of the Siberian wildfires on humans? Was it A, 1,298 buildings burned down, but this did not include homes? B, the smoke from the wildfires was bad for wildlife? Or C, at least 13 people died? Yes, you're right.

At least 13 people died.

The environmental impacts of the 2022 Siberian wildfires included seven million hectares of boreal forest habitats was lost.

So that's more than three times the area of Wales.

It's massive, and you can see that in the animation on the right here.

A vast carbon sink was lost, so lots of the trees were lost, but then also that burning of those trees meant that carbon dioxide was emitted from the wildfires into the atmosphere.

You can see the smoke that was emitted and that image really shows that quite well.

Siberia actually stores 40 to 60 billion metric tonnes of carbon.

That is the same as all of the carbon dioxide emitted by the whole world in one year.

So the amount that is stored in just Siberia is pretty impressive, and the fact that this area is threatened by wildfires to this extent is really concerning.

Time for a check for understanding now.

Name one of the impacts of the 2022 Siberian wildfires.

Well done.

Let's take a look at the answers and see if yours is there.

So we've got quite a specific answer to start with.

1,298 buildings burned down, and this included 200 homes.

If you've put buildings burned down, that is correct.

If you can improve it by saying how many and being a little bit more specific, that will improve your answer, even if it's over a thousand, that is an improved answer.

The best answer would be the actual number, 1,298.

But that is a tricky number to remember.

The smoke from the wildfires was hazardous to human health.

That could be another thing you wrote.

Did you write that one? Then at least 13 people died.

Seven million hectares of boreal forest habitat was lost.

The carbon sink was lost, and it contributed to global carbon emissions.

Time for a practise task now.

Please, could you rank the importance of the impacts by numbering them from one the least important to six for most important.

Here are impacts on the right.

They're the ones we've covered in the lesson.

So 1,298 buildings in 60 settlements burned down.

This includes 200 homes.

The smoke from the wildfires was hazardous to human health.

At least 13 people died.

Seven million hectares of boreal forest habitat was lost.

A vast carbon sink was lost.

The carbon dioxide emitted from the wildfires was a huge contribution to carbon emissions in 2022.

Which one would you say was most important? Start with that one and give it a six.

Think about the least important, give it a one, and then you can work out the ones in between.

Right, the next part of the task is to explain why you chose your most important factor.

So you may want to think about the knock-on consequences of that impact.

You may want to complete section one and two of this task before moving on to section three, which is a discussion.

So you can pause the video now if you'd like to do that.

The third part of our task now is for you to speak with your partner.

The fires had a worse impact for humans than the physical environment as 1,298 buildings were destroyed.

This is what Jun has said.

Do you agree with him? What do you think? Have a discussion now.

Let's have a look at this example answer.

There is no correct answer for this question, it's your opinion, and that's absolutely fine.

This person has decided that the most important was the bottom factor that carbon dioxide emitted from the wildfires was a huge contribution to carbon emissions in 2022.

The next most important was that at least 13 people died.

Then it was a vast carbon sink was lost.

Then the next one down, number three, was seven million hectares of boreal forest habitat was lost.

And then number two, the smoke from the wildfires was hazardous to human health.

Then number one, 1,298 buildings in 60 settlements burned down.

This included 200 homes.

Now, realistically, we could say that every single one of those is extremely important, but it does get you to think this through.

So please don't think that a lot of buildings burned down is an unimportant thing.

That is just the opinion of this particular person, that the other things were more important.

So this part of the task, Part 2, was all about explaining why you chose your most important factor.

So you may want to think about additional consequences of this as well.

So Sofia has said, "I chose carbon dioxide emissions as this would impact the whole planet by worsening global warming.

In addition, this impact would last a long time as a vast carbon sink was lost." So she's explained that really well.

She's thought about the knock-on consequences.

She's thought about scale, so she said it will affect the whole world, not just that local area.

And she's also thought about timescale.

So she's thought about how this would affect the future.

Well done.

You're doing a great job so far.

Let's have a look to remind ourselves what Jun said here for section three of the task.

"So the fires had a worse impact for humans than for the physical environment as 1,298 buildings were destroyed." Right, Izzy agrees with this.

She does think the impact was worse for humans.

"As it would have cost a lot of money to repair, many people would have been homeless or would have not been able to work." Okay, that makes a lot of sense.

She's given really good reasoning to back up her argument, hasn't she? So she's done really well.

Alex has said the opposite.

He says that he disagrees.

"I disagree, as the loss of forest will have a bigger impact worldwide.

Global warming will be worsened and that will threaten more lives." So again, this is a really good answer because he has justified his answer really well, and there's no correct answers.

Not that you should agree or disagree.

It's about justifying and giving reasons for your opinion.

That is the key part of this activity.

Both Izzy and Alex have done that well.

I'm sure you have as well.

Well done, everyone.

Excellent work today.

Let's have a look at the key takeaways from today's lesson in our summary.

Wildfires are uncontrolled fires that spread quickly through dry vegetation.

For example, forests, grasslands, or shrublands.

Wildfires have both natural and human causes.

Climate change is making the conditions needed for wildfires to spread more likely.

The 2022 Siberian wildfires had devastating impacts on people as well as the environment.

The carbon dioxide emitted from wildfires was a huge contribution to the carbon emissions in 2022.

Thank you so much for learning with me today.

I hope to see you next time.

Bye-bye.