Zombie fires in US-Canada
Source : Down To Earth
GS III : Environment
Overview
- News in Brief
- About Zombie Fire
Why in News ?
The blanket of wildfire smoke that spread across large parts of the U.S. and Canada in 2023
News in Brief
- This showing what climate change could feel like in the near future for millions of people.
- Air pollution levels that force people indoors.
- These fires aren’t just burning in trees and grasses, they moving into the ground as well.
- These underground fires are known as zombie fires.
About Zombie Fire
- Wildfires may cause zombie flames, which are so named because they appear to have risen from the dead.
Photo by Marcus Kauffman on Unsplash - Zombie fires also known as overwintering fires.
- Even after a wildfire has been put out on the surface, it may continue to burn covertly underneath thanks to peat and methane.
- Duration: These flames may continue to burn all winter long while being concealed by snow.
- Wildfires are susceptible to re-igniting and spreading in the spring when the temperature increases, the snow melts, and the soil dries up.
- Challenges for Extinguish: As they are mostly underground they are difficult to stop and need more peoples for a long period of time.
What worries the Zombie Fire?
- Due to the shifting environment, Arctic soils can burn slowly.
- They may produce significant volumes of smoke that are released into the sky.
- Depth
- In 2023, there will still be fires smouldering dozens of feet beneath in carbon-rich peatlands.
- Using heavy machinery to dig the fire regions becomes problematic since peat fires can cause the earth to become unstable.
- Arctic amplification refers to the fact that the Arctic is warming almost four times as quickly as the rest of the planet.
- Arctic has already exceeded a 2° C
- Contribute to more lightning strikes, which may cause fires.
- They more smoke and carry ultra fine particles.
- Smoke plumes that cover vast geographical regions.
- 1997, peat fires in Indonesia sent across Southeast Asia and parts of Australia.
- This increased carbon emissions.
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