The Unseen Threat: Understanding Underground Peat Fires

Imagine a fire raging for almost a year, spanning thousands of square kilometers, and spreading haze across international borders – all while burning beneath the surface. This isn't a scene from a science fiction movie, but a reality known as a peat fire, or more ominously, a zombie fire.

What are Peat Fires?

Peat fires are subterranean blazes that occur in peatlands – areas with a high concentration of peat. Peat is a type of soil formed from accumulated organic matter that decomposes very slowly due to cold or wet conditions. This material is rich in carbon, making it highly flammable when dry.

The Science of Smoldering

To understand peat fires, it's essential to grasp the concept of smoldering. Unlike regular fires with flames, smoldering is a slow, glowing burn that occurs on the surface of a solid material, like the char left behind after pyrolysis (the decomposition of fuel by heat). This process releases smoke filled with harmful emissions, such as carbon monoxide and methane.

How Peat Fires Ignite and Spread

Peatlands, historically too wet to burn, are now increasingly susceptible to fire due to climate change-induced droughts and land drainage for agriculture. When a surface fire ignites the peat below, it transforms it into char, initiating the smoldering process. The heat generated further dries the surrounding peat, allowing the fire to creep deeper into the soil.

The Dangers of Zombie Fires

Peat fires pose several significant threats:

• Persistence: They can burn for months or even years, releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere.
• Difficulty in Detection: With few visible signs above ground, these fires are hard to track until they ignite surface soil far from the original source.
• Overwintering: Zombie fires can even survive beneath snow, sparking new blazes in the spring.
• Environmental Impact: Subterranean fires produce roughly 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions – that’s six times more than international aviation.

Fighting the Unseen Enemy

Extinguishing peat fires is a challenging task.

• Dousing with water is tricky due to water's high surface tension, which prevents it from penetrating the peat evenly.
• Researchers are exploring ways to reduce water's surface tension to improve its permeation.
• Some countries are implementing controlled burns to reduce the risk of larger fires.
• Preventing peatland drainage is crucial to maintaining their natural resilience to fire.

The Importance of Peatlands

Peatlands, despite covering only 3% of the Earth's land, store over a quarter of the planet's carbon. As climate change intensifies, protecting these vital ecosystems is more critical than ever to prevent the release of massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

By understanding the nature and dangers of peat fires, we can work towards better prevention and mitigation strategies, safeguarding our planet's future.