Zombie Fires
This week I was planning to write about tree farts (gases released by dead trees). Because who can resist a good fart joke? Not me. But then I learned about zombie forest fires, and I was off and running.
Zombie forest fires are fires that seem to have gone out, but actually hibernate under the snow in winter, secretly smoldering for months, then flaring back up when the snow melts in the spring. They’re blessedly rare, but like so many horrible things, they’re likely to be made worse by global warming. That’s because hotter summers will lead to more and bigger fires, and bigger fires are more likely to create zombies.
There’s some good news, though. Now that we understand how these fires originate, firefighters can pinpoint where they’re likely to emerge and prevent them from getting out of hand. Sort of like knowing that if you see a bunch of teenagers at an isolated cabin in the woods, zombies are somewhere nearby.
Stay Curious,
Avery
Image by Izzy Serious via Pixabay