How are these fires burning underground? - Emma Bryce

Summary

In 1997, a massive subterranean fire in Indonesia sparked global awareness about 'zombie fires,' which burn beneath the surface without visible flames. These fires, fueled by peat, a carbon-rich soil, can smolder for months or years, releasing harmful gases. As climate change dries out peatlands, these fires are becoming more frequent, contributing significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions. While conventional fire-fighting methods are ineffective, strategies like controlled burns and preventing peatland drainage are key to mitigating the problem. Protecting peatlands, which store a quarter of the planet's carbon, is crucial in the fight against climate change.

Takeaways

• 😀 Zombie fires are subterranean fires that burn beneath the surface, often without visible flames, making them difficult to detect.
• 😀 These fires are responsible for around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than six times the emissions from international aviation.
• 😀 Peat fires, also known as zombie fires, occur in peatlands, a type of soil that stores carbon, making it highly flammable.
• 😀 Peatlands are typically cold and wet, which historically made them resistant to fire, but climate change-induced droughts have made them more vulnerable.
• 😀 Peatlands are one of the largest natural carbon stores on Earth, holding over a quarter of the planet's carbon despite covering only 3% of the land.
• 😀 Zombie fires can burn slowly, at a rate of just one millimeter per minute, but they can continue for months or even years, emitting dangerous gases.
• 😀 These fires often smolder underground and are hard to track until they break through to the surface, sometimes igniting far from the original source.
• 😀 Zombie fires can even burn beneath snow, overwintering until they spark new blazes in the spring, making them difficult to control.
• 😀 Fighting these fires is challenging because water doesn’t penetrate burning peat easily due to the high surface tension of water molecules.
• 😀 Researchers are experimenting with methods to reduce water's surface tension, allowing it to reach deeper into burning peat and extinguish the fires more effectively.

Q & A

What are zombie fires, and why are they called that?

Zombie fires, also known as peat fires, are underground fires that can burn for months or even years. They are called 'zombie' because they can smolder without flames, surviving even beneath snow or during wet conditions, reigniting when conditions are dry.

How much of global greenhouse gas emissions do subterranean fires contribute?

Subterranean fires contribute approximately 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is six times more than emissions from international aviation.

What conditions are necessary for a standard fire to ignite?

A standard fire requires three components: fuel, heat, and oxygen. The fuel must reach its ignition point, where it begins to break down and release gases that combust when mixed with oxygen, producing flames.

What is char, and how does it relate to smoldering fires?

Char is the solid residue left behind after pyrolysis. Unlike gas, it is highly flammable carbon. Under hot enough conditions, char can react with surrounding oxygen to create a slow, glowing burn called smoldering, which does not produce flames but releases harmful gases.

What are peatlands, and why are they so flammable?

Peatlands are areas where organic matter builds up faster than it decomposes, forming carbon-rich soil. This accumulation of carbon makes peat highly flammable, especially when dried by climate change or drained for agricultural use.

How do droughts and climate change affect peatlands and contribute to zombie fires?

Droughts caused by climate change dry out peatlands, making them more susceptible to ignition. When surface fires occur, they can ignite the peat below, which then continues to smolder underground, even during dry seasons or winter.

Why are zombie fires difficult to detect and fight?

Zombie fires are hard to detect because they smolder beneath the surface and show few visible signs of burning above ground. They can spread miles from the source and may even continue to burn under snow or wet conditions, making them challenging to track and extinguish.

What are the environmental consequences of zombie fires?

Zombie fires release large amounts of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, methane, and particulate matter, contributing to air pollution and significantly affecting global climate change by releasing stored carbon from peatlands into the atmosphere.

What strategies are being used to combat zombie fires?

Strategies include controlling surface fires to prevent them from reaching the deeper peat, reducing peatland drainage to maintain moisture, and researching ways to enhance water penetration into the smoldering soil to extinguish the fire more effectively.

Why is it important to preserve peatlands in the context of climate change?

Peatlands hold more than a quarter of the planet's carbon, making them crucial for mitigating climate change. Preserving them helps prevent the release of this stored carbon into the atmosphere, which would otherwise contribute significantly to global warming.