100, 000 Uncontrolled Wildfires In The United States

Did you know that trees contain the same kind of compound of gasoline? It's true! When wood is heated to 150c its cells start to break down and release volatile gases called smoke. They full of hydrocarbons, the same kind of molecule that you find in other fuels like octane and methane. When there heated up enough hydrocarbons ignite easily and burn really well so, if that smoking would get even hotter those gases react quickly with the oxygen and combust to form flames. And that friends, is the chemistry of fire and it is responsible for over 100,000 uncontrolled wildfires in the United States, that together, consume up to 3 million hectares of forest and brush each year. That's an area the size of Maryland! However, that's not such a bad thing. Fire serves a lot of vital ecological purposes and many ecosystems have adapted to make the most of it. The problem is that fires job is to destroy, and when that comes to human territory (which is pretty much everywhere) we have a problem. Wildfires really are an amazing force of nature: they can leap across highways, create their own wind, and in certain conditions, at speed above 30k per hour. And scientists are beginning to

We like to call wildfire natural disasters, but almost always these are caused by human behavior. Actually, nearly 90% of wildfires in the us are caused by people; whether by, abandoned campfires, cigarettes, or arson. Even sparks from power equipment like fallen power lines have been known to start forest fires. 9% have been caused by lightning. And a stunning 1% have been caused by volcanic eruptions.

Wind cannot only push flames toward new fuel, it can also create more fuel by drying materials in moist areas. And also, fires can actually generate their own wind, with the upwelling of hot air that they create, this allows fresh air the fill the vacuum behind with a new supply of