We don’t need the JWST to learn more about Earth, so that’s something. We have our own Earth observation satellites, from different agencies and countries, all trying to understand how our planet is changing and how it might continue to change. And sometimes, we read a story that has cool science but terrifying consequences. This next phenomenon even has a terrifying name – zombie fires.

We’ve all seen on the news, and frankly, I’ve experienced it here in California, that our annual fire season is getting worse with the hotter, dryer conditions. Winds blow, flames spark, and I’m wearing a different kind of mask to keep the ash and particulates out of my lungs. It’s not been fun. And it could get worse in regions like Alaska.

Sometimes, fires can hibernate underground. They get knocked down by firefighters or weather, then the area gets buried under snow, and the fire continues smoldering over the winter. It survives by consuming the carbon-rich peat and boreal soil and creeping slowly underground. Then, when the spring thaws come, the fire reemerges near the previous fire location and starts back up before the usual fire season. Firefighters suspected this was happening. And now scientists checking out satellite images of burned regions have found the proof.

Fortunately, zombie fires are rare and only account for 0.8 percent of the total area burned in Alaska and northern Canada for the seven years examined. The issue is that when warmer summers have occurred, the zombie fires were more likely because the fires were overwintering even deeper underground. And now, well, hotter summers are the rule and not the exception, so this team of scientists expects the percentage of zombie fires will increase. Their work can be found in Nature.

More Information

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam press release

‘Zombie’ forest fires may become more common with climate change (Science News)

“Overwintering fires in boreal forests,” Rebecca C. Scholten et al., 2021 May 19, Nature