In wildfires, a holdover fire, or overwintering fire is a peat fire which persists from year to year.
Such fires typically occur in Arctic tundra, smouldering during the winter under the snow and then becoming more intense during the summer.
A study conducted 2002–2018 in Alaska and the Northwest Territories found that this type of fire burned only 0.8% of the total area burned by all types of fires and that this type of fire caused only 0.5% of the total carbon emissions released by all types of fires. [1]
During the summer of 2019, such fires were estimated to have generated 173 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), [2] with an estimate of 244 million tonnes from January to August 2019. [3] The smoke and soot from such fires darkens the region, so contributing to further warming and further fires. [4] The loss of peat is also a loss of a store for CO2. [3] Images from satellites such as Sentinel-2 have been used to identify such hot spots. [5]
In wildfires, a holdover fire, or overwintering fire is a peat fire which persists from year to year.
Such fires typically occur in Arctic tundra, smouldering during the winter under the snow and then becoming more intense during the summer.
A study conducted 2002–2018 in Alaska and the Northwest Territories found that this type of fire burned only 0.8% of the total area burned by all types of fires and that this type of fire caused only 0.5% of the total carbon emissions released by all types of fires. [1]
During the summer of 2019, such fires were estimated to have generated 173 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), [2] with an estimate of 244 million tonnes from January to August 2019. [3] The smoke and soot from such fires darkens the region, so contributing to further warming and further fires. [4] The loss of peat is also a loss of a store for CO2. [3] Images from satellites such as Sentinel-2 have been used to identify such hot spots. [5]