(ORDO NEWS) — In Arizona, local residents encountered a very frequent phenomenon after fires and heavy rains: debris began to move in a stormy stream. It can easily cripple and disrupt the ecosystem of water bodies.
The US Geological Survey calls debris flow a fairly common occurrence, caused by heavy rainfall after forest fires. The greatest danger is that the movement of debris starts spontaneously and unpredictably.
The other day in Arizona, they filmed a stream of soot that swept across Tucson’s central catchment. After the wildfires, the entire land is charred, barren and unable to absorb water, according to Pima County officials.
Even a small amount of precipitation leads to a mudflow. The changed soil repels all the liquid. So, in Southern California, only 7 mm of rainfall in half an hour provoked the appearance of a mess of water, debris and soot.
Streams negatively affect the ecosystem of water bodies when they flow into them. The oxygen level in the water immediately decreases, and a large amount of nutrients provoke the bloom of blue-green algae, which take the last oxygen.
Fish often die in such conditions, and the water becomes cloudy. After each incident, it may take at least ten years to restore the fish population and balance in the reservoir, says ecologist Lee Baumgartner.
In Arizona, fires have been raging since June. The fire destroyed 48 hectares of forest in the Santa Catalina mountains. It will take quite a long time for life to return to the burnt areas of the territory.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.