Case Studies in Environmental Hazards. Journal Search, Article

Case Studies in Environmental Hazards. Journal Search, Summaries and Annotated Bibliography - Article Example They talk about the dangerous effects of wildfires on a broad range of natural habitats. They indicate that wildfires have been found to be the main cause of flash floods and the flow of debris. They indicate that one of the main causes of the hydrological driven hazards that occur after the wildfires is the decreased rates of infiltration. Besides this reduction in the infiltration rate, it is also caused by the mounting evidence of the fundamental physics of infiltration. This concept is used for further explanation and to provide evidence on the presence of infiltration which enhances the hydraulic effects of wildfires. In this sense, the authors attempt to provide a solution for this in their article. In particular they provide solutions that help to solve the issue of hydrolic effects of wild fires. In this case, the article will be of great insight in this study as it will provide an in depth understanding on the handling and management of post wildfire hydrology caused by the increased rate of wildfires. Notably, the authors have also written on the differences that exist in fire affected soils. For instance, they have indicated that soil surface sealing by either ash or fine sediments contain measurable effects on post wild-fire runoff. They give an explanation by use of diagrams to explain four types of infiltration causing environmental hazard. From the above diagram, Type 1 is the â€Å"standard type† that has exponential decreasing infiltration rate with time. Type 2 is a linear decrease in infiltration rate with time. Type 3 contains an initial high soil-water repellency that at first results in a low infiltration rate but as soil wets, the rate of infiltration raises to maximum and afterwards declines exponentially with time. Type 4 is similar to type 3 only that the infiltration rate levels off eventually to a constant level due to macrospore flow. Karavitisa, A. Christos, Tsesmelis, E. Demetrios, Skondrasa, A. Nikolaos, Stamatakos,