Editing Peat (section)

==={{anchor|Fires|Peat Fires}} Peat fires===
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{{See also|Slash and burn|Stubble burning|Arctic methane release}}
[[File:TOMS indonesia smog lrg.jpg|thumb|Smoke and ozone pollution from [[Indonesia]]n fires, 1997]]
Peat can be a major fire hazard and is not extinguished by light rain.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=Shaorun |last2=Cheung |first2=Yau Kuen |last3=Xiao |first3=Yang |last4=Huang |first4=Xinyan |date=2020-07-20 |title=Can rain suppress smoldering peat fire? |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720319811 |journal=Science of the Total Environment |language=en |volume=727 |page=138468 |bibcode=2020ScTEn.72738468L |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138468 |issn=0048-9697 |pmid=32334212 |s2cid=216146063 |hdl=10397/89496|hdl-access=free }}</ref> Peat fires may burn for great lengths of time, or [[Smouldering|smoulder]] underground and reignite after winter if an oxygen source is present.

Peat has a high carbon content and can burn under low moisture conditions. Once ignited by the presence of a heat source (e.g., a [[wildfire]] penetrating the subsurface), it smoulders. These smouldering fires can burn undetected for very long periods of time (months, years, and even centuries) propagating in a creeping fashion through the underground peat layer.

Despite the damage that the burning of raw peat can cause, bogs are naturally subject to wildfires and depend on the wildfires to keep woody competition from lowering the water table and shading out many bog plants. Several families of plants including the carnivorous ''[[Sarracenia]]'' (trumpet pitcher), [[Dionaea (plant)|''Dionaea'']] (Venus flytrap), ''[[Utricularia]]'' (bladderworts) and non-carnivorous plants such as the [[Lilium pyrophilum|sandhills lily]], [[Ctenium aromaticum|toothache grass]] and many species of orchid are now threatened and in some cases endangered from the combined forces of human drainage, negligence and absence of fire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pitcherplant.org/|title=Meadowview Biological Research Station – Preserving and Restoring Pitcher Plant Bogs|author=Michael Kevin Smith|access-date=25 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may03/lilly050903.html|title=New lily species found in eastern N.C. Sandhills|access-date=25 October 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://www.dmr.state.ms.us/Coastal-Ecology/preserves/plants/grasses-sedges-rushes/toothache-grass/toothache-grass.htm toothache-grass] ''www.dmr.state.ms.us''{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The recent burning of peat bogs in Indonesia, with their large and deep growths containing more than {{Convert|50|e9t|e9ST e9LT|abbr=off}} of carbon, has contributed to increases in world [[carbon dioxide]] levels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vast-peat-fires-threaten-health-and-boost-global-warming/|title=Vast Peat Fires Threaten Health and Boost Global Warming|last=Lim|first=XiaoZhi|website=Scientific American|language=en|access-date=2019-08-16}}</ref> Peat deposits in Southeast Asia could be destroyed by 2040.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4208564.stm | work=BBC News | title=Asian peat fires add to warming | date=2005-09-03 | access-date=2010-05-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Joel S. Levine |title=Wildland fires and the environment: a global synthesis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLSPnDrb0LsC |access-date=9 May 2011 |date= 1999 |publisher=UNEP/Earthprint |isbn=978-92-807-1742-6 }} [http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/biomass_burn/wildland.html web link] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050902225846/http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/biomass_burn/wildland.html |date=2005-09-02 }}</ref>

It is estimated that in 1997, [[1997 Southeast Asian haze|peat and forest fires in Indonesia]] released between {{Convert|0.81 and 2.57|Gt|e9ST e9LT|abbr=off}} of carbon; equivalent to 13–40 percent of the amount released by global fossil fuel burning, and greater than the carbon uptake of the world's biosphere. These fires may be responsible for the acceleration in the increase in carbon dioxide levels since 1998.<ref>Cat Lazaroff, [http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2002/2002-11-08-06.asp Indonesian Wildfires Accelerated Global Warming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908133919/http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2002/2002-11-08-06.asp |date=2019-09-08 }}, Environment News Service</ref><ref>Fred Pearce [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6613-massive-peat-burn-is-speeding-climate-change/ Massive peat burn is speeding climate change], New Scientist, 6 November 2004</ref> More than 100 peat fires in [[Kalimantan]] and East [[Sumatra]] have continued to burn since 1997; each year, these peat fires ignite new forest fires above the ground.

In North America, peat fires can occur during severe droughts throughout their occurrence, from boreal forests in Canada to swamps and fens in the subtropical southern Florida [[Everglades]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Florida Everglades |url=http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/circular/1182/ |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |access-date=11 June 2013 |date=15 January 2013 |archive-date=26 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626081529/http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/circular/1182/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Once a fire has burnt through the area, hollows in the peat are burnt out, and hummocks are desiccated but can contribute to ''Sphagnum'' recolonization.<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=Nicole |last1=Fenton |first2=Nicolas |last2=Lecomte |first3=Sonia |last3=Légaré |name-list-style=amp |first4=Yves |last4=Bergeron |title=Paludification in black spruce (''Picea mariana'') forests of eastern Canada: Potential factors and management implications |journal=Forest Ecology and Management |volume=213 |issue=1–3 |year=2005 |pages=151–159 |doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2005.03.017 |bibcode=2005ForEM.213..151F }}</ref>

In the summer of 2010, an unusually high [[2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat wave|heat wave]] of up to {{cvt|40|C}} ignited large deposits of peat in Central Russia, [[2010 Russian wildfires|burning thousands of houses]] and covering the capital of Moscow with a toxic [[smog|smoke blanket]]. The situation remained critical until the end of August 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10762921 |title=Fog from peat fires blankets Moscow amid heat wave |work=BBC |date=26 July 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012486819_apeurussiafires.html |title=Russia begins to localize fires, others rage |agency=Associated Press |date= 30 July 2010}}</ref>

In June 2019, despite some [[Wildfire#Prevention|forest fire prevention methods]] being put in place, peat fires<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2019/07/23/arctic-fires-shown-satellite-concerning-scientists/1793530001/|title=Thanks to climate change, parts of the Arctic are on fire. Scientists are concerned|first=Morgan|last=Hines|website=USA Today}}</ref> in the Arctic emitted {{Convert|50|Mt|e6ST e6LT|abbr=off}} of CO<sub>2</sub>, which is equal to Sweden's total annual emissions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/26/unprecedented-more-than-100-wildfires-burning-in-the-arctic-in-worst-ever-season|title='Unprecedented': more than 100 Arctic wildfires burn in worst ever season|date=July 26, 2019|website=The Guardian}}</ref> The peat fires are linked to climate change, as they are much more likely to occur nowadays due to this effect.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190822-why-is-the-arctic-on-fire|title=Why the Arctic is smouldering|last=Cormier|first=Zoe|website=bbc.com|date=27 August 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-08-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Turetsky|first1=Merritt R.|last2=Benscoter|first2=Brian|last3=Page|first3=Susan|last4=Rein|first4=Guillermo|last5=van der Werf|first5=Guido R.|last6=Watts|first6=Adam|date=2014-12-23|title=Global vulnerability of peatlands to fire and carbon loss|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2325.epdf|journal=Nature Geoscience|language=en|volume=8|issue=1|pages=11–14|doi=10.1038/ngeo2325|issn=1752-0894|hdl=10044/1/21250|hdl-access=free}}</ref>[[File:Peat haggs at start of Allt Lagan a' Bhainne tributary on Eilrig - geograph.org.uk - 1420692.jpg|thumb|Peat hags in the Scottish Highlands]]