DISCUSSION: Lines 51-54 mention lightning fires. We should allow them to burn, but only if forests are damp, and only once fuel has been cleared from forests. (See lines 45-49 – we must clear fuel before we can have low intensity fires again).
So the author would think it is a mistake to allow all lightning fires to burn.
___________
- No. See the discussion above. It is not wise to allow all lightning fires to burn.
- Same as A. It is not a good idea to allow all lightning fires to burn. See the discussion above.
- This is not supported. In North America, many forests currently have an excess of fuel. If fires burn, those forests will be destroyed. We must clear fuel before allowing fires. This is lines 45-49: clearing brush recreates the conditions that allow for low-intensity burns.
So no forests benefit from lightning fires until excess fuel has been cleared. Further, the passage didn’t really make a distinction between old and young forests. The passage only talks about old and young trees, within the same forest. - CORRECT. Lines 51-54 support this. We should only allow lightning fires when “weather is damp enough to reduce the risk of extensive damage”.
- The passage never talks about public perception or whether the recommended policy is politically feasible.
Ruonan Wang says
I think the correct lines regarding this questions also include line 21-23, where it states that lightning can cause fire becoming “so large that that it leaves total devastation”.
Founder Graeme Blake says
Yes, that’s good additional support.
Note: This is an old comment but I wanted to clarify the point.