From Indonesia to Botswana, from Scotland to North Carolina, peat mega-fires burn for months, destroy habitat, clog the air with haze, and self-accelerate climate change impacts.

Peat can be a major fire hazard and is not extinguished by light rain. [63] Peat fires may burn for great lengths of time, or smoulder underground and reignite after winter if an oxygen source is present.

Apr 2, 2025 · By Bryony Cottam Peat fires are some of the largest and most persistent fires on Earth. In 2019, huge fires smouldered for months across Indonesia (home to the largest peatlands in the world), where they burned more than three million hectares of land – roughly the size of Belgium – and blanketed six neighbouring countries in …

Aug 20, 2010 · Peat fires can burn up to 15 feet deep and are extremely difficult to extinguish. Russia, which has been plagued by peat fires this summer, constructed a 30-mile-long water pipeline from the Oka...

Dec 23, 2014 · Fire is a threat to many peat-rich biomes and has the potential to disturb these carbon stocks. Peat fires are dominated by smouldering combustion, which is ignited more readily than flaming...

Mar 6, 2018 · In the short term, peat fires clog the air with deadly smoke and smog. In densely populated areas such as Indonesia, blazes can devour homes and businesses and claim lives. …

Jan 1, 2015 · Smoldering combustion is the driving phenomenon of wildfires in peat lands, such as those that cause episodes of haze in Southeast Asia, North America, and Northeast Europe. It leads to peat megafires, which are the largest and some of the longest burning fires on Earth.

Apr 7, 2025 · The dried-out layer of peat that remains is highly flammable, and it’s this one-two punch of subsidence and fire that’s historically been a key driver of peatland destruction across Indonesia.

Dec 1, 2021 · 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.

Oct 30, 2020 · Peat fires, which occur in regions like Southeast Asia, North America, and Siberia, are driven by the burning of soils rich in organic content. When peat — which is a natural reservoir of carbon — burns, it releases up to 100 times more carbon per burn area into the atmosphere than non-peat fires.