Solar activity - Climate change and natural disasters in mountain regions

Abstract

Contemporary science is burdened with contradictory, i.e. severely opposed attitudes relating to climate changes issue, i.e. global warming. What is undisputable is that if climate changes are more intensive, the changes relating to stand of plants are also more intensive. Forest fires are one of the most drastic factors that influence changes of stand of plants on mountain terrains. Damages caused by destroying forests in that way vary from case to case, but the significant problem occurs in irretrievable losses in soil due to additional erosion, as well as disturbances in underground water circulation. In contrast to plain terrains, mountains are far more sensitive to such disasters especially when we have in mind losses in agricultural soil, as well as in wild animals. The fact that direct connection between any of climate elements and the initial phase of fire has not been established so far represents a special challenge to science. New hypothesis is presented in this chapter, which tries to link the processes on the Sun, i.e. charged particles (protons) as the potential causes of forest fires the origin of which is not known. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011.