TY - JOUR
T1 - Smouldering wildfires in peatlands, forests and the arctic
T2 - Challenges and perspectives
AU - Rein, Guillermo
AU - Huang, Xinyan
N1 - Funding Information:
The research has been funded by the European Research Council grant HAZE (No. 682587) to GR, and National Natural Science Foundation of China grant No. 51876183 to XH.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Wildfires can be divided into two types, flaming or smouldering, depending on the dominant combustion processes. Both types are present in most wildfires, and despite being fundamentally different in chemical and physical terms, one transitions to the other. Traditionally, science has focused on flames, while smouldering is often misinterpreted. But smouldering wildfires are emerging as a global concern because they cause extensive air pollution, emit very large amounts of carbon, are difficult to detect and suppress, and could accelerate climate change. Central to the topic are smouldering peat fires that lead to the largest fires on Earth. Smouldering also dominates the residual burning after flames have died out and firebrand ignition. Finally, smouldering is an important part of Arctic wildfires, which are increasing in frequency. Here, we present a scientific overview of smouldering wildfires, the associated environmental and health issues, including climate change, and the challenges in prevention and mitigation.
AB - Wildfires can be divided into two types, flaming or smouldering, depending on the dominant combustion processes. Both types are present in most wildfires, and despite being fundamentally different in chemical and physical terms, one transitions to the other. Traditionally, science has focused on flames, while smouldering is often misinterpreted. But smouldering wildfires are emerging as a global concern because they cause extensive air pollution, emit very large amounts of carbon, are difficult to detect and suppress, and could accelerate climate change. Central to the topic are smouldering peat fires that lead to the largest fires on Earth. Smouldering also dominates the residual burning after flames have died out and firebrand ignition. Finally, smouldering is an important part of Arctic wildfires, which are increasing in frequency. Here, we present a scientific overview of smouldering wildfires, the associated environmental and health issues, including climate change, and the challenges in prevention and mitigation.
KW - Climate change
KW - Emissions
KW - Firebrand
KW - Forest
KW - Peat
KW - Pollution
KW - Safety
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109519832&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.coesh.2021.100296
DO - 10.1016/j.coesh.2021.100296
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85109519832
SN - 2468-5844
VL - 24
JO - Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health
JF - Current Opinion in Environmental Science and Health
M1 - 100296
ER -