Chapter 684: Eternal Night is Coming
combustion!!!
The audience opened their eyes wide and exclaimed in unison.
Can soil burn?
"Of course, the combustion effect is very good. You can simply think of it as soil-like charcoal. It also has other names, which are peat and peat. It is the coal with the lowest degree of coalification."
This metaphor made everyone instantly understand the burning ability of peat soil.
It turned out to be coal!
The charcoal in his hand started to spark, and Bifang blew slowly and deeply, and a small flame soon jumped up on the tinder. Seeing this, he did not rush to put in the peat, but grabbed a handful of loose peat soil.
"When the organic matter content in clay exceeds 10% but is less than 60%, it is called peat soil. Only when it exceeds 60% can it become peat. The calorific value of this kind of soil is mostly 9.50 to 15.0 megajoules per kilogram, and it is very easy to burn."
"This is a type of soil formed by the accumulation of incompletely decomposed plant remains in a humid and oxygen-deficient environment. It is usually dark gray or black in appearance and has a fishy smell. Incompletely decomposed plant structures can be seen. It swells when soaked in water and is easy to disintegrate. There are plant residues floating in the water and obvious shrinkage."
The audience moved closer and indeed found tissue similar to plant roots in the soil.
"In addition to the characteristics of peat soil, peat has the properties of loose structure, very light soil, and dull color."
With so many properties, peat soil is not difficult to identify, and with its faint fishy smell, Bifang can recognize it at a glance.
[However, is there such a thing in the North Pole? ]
[There aren't many plants in the Arctic, but there are so many plant remains? ]
The audience was a little surprised, because from what Bifang said, this kind of thing should be found in tropical rain forests or something like that, where there are countless plant remains.
"So you didn't hear the prerequisites at all?" Bifang laughed. "It's completely different from what you guessed. In tropical rainforests, microorganisms are too developed and basically no plant remains can be left. So 70% of the world's peat bogs are actually located in the Arctic region, and most of them are in high latitudes. There are more peat soils in low latitudes. Let me think..."
"Oh, there are peat bogs all over the Indonesian forests."
"But we have to be careful when using peat, and we have to take precautions. Peat is very flammable, and it has a similar nature to coal, so you can imagine making a fire on top of the coal."
[Fuck, is it so scary? ]
[I want to die]
【Lao Fang is really brave】
The audience gasped, this was too scary.
"Haha, it's not that exaggerated. After all, the coalification degree is very low, and it needs to be dried. There is ice and snow all around us. It will be fine if we are careful. I just want you to understand that it is indeed dangerous."
Just as he said, Bifang did not choose to light a fire in the remaining mud pit, but instead put a large amount of snow next to it, and then filled it with ordinary frozen soil to make a concave shape, and threw peat soil and flames into it. Almost immediately, the flames burned fiercely, emitting amazing heat, which instantly warmed up the cave.
After taking off his coat, Bifang looked up at the musk ox above his head and felt that this seemed like an alternative form of smoking, except that the smoke was a bit thicker.
"no."
Bifang picked up the shovel and dug to the side. He had to divert the fire. He didn't want his musk beef to taste unpleasant and dry.
"In many places, when forest fires start in the summer, there is a high risk that they will spread into peat bogs where forests are growing. Not only do they increase the intensity of fires, but they are also potential climate bombs."
“When peat bogs burn, they release carbon dioxide that has been stored for geological epochs. When the soil starts burning, it emits thick, choking smoke that can only be stopped with the help of bulldozers. Fires can last for months or years, so the amount of peat lost is enormous.”
"There are 750 billion tons of carbon in the atmosphere, and there may be 250 billion to 450 billion tons of carbon in the peat bogs in the Arctic. If it is fully released, it will increase the carbon content in the atmosphere by 50%."
Bifang made an alarmist conclusion.
"I don't know if you still remember the huge wildfires that broke out in Australia and California two years ago. As a result, the Earth lost hundreds of millions of wild animals and many species became endangered. In fact, many wildfires also broke out in the Arctic at that time, but they were not widely reported."
"The smoke from wildfires rising from the ground in the Arctic created a huge plume in the stratosphere that was clearly visible from satellites."
"It wasn't until the following year, after months of cold weather, that the surface wildfires in the Arctic were extinguished, but the underground fires were still burning."
"Even in the Arctic, near the village of Saidi, about 400 kilometers northeast of Yakutsk, underground fires continued to burn in temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius, from Udarnik to Saidi, burning all important resources."
The audience was dumbfounded. It burned for a year?
Isn’t this too exaggerated?
"Peat fires are different from the usual bushfires. They burn quietly underground and are therefore extremely difficult to put out. Even if there is heavy snow on the ground, peat fires will still burn underground."
"It's burning underground, so you can't see the flames, and there's only a small amount of smoke, so unless a satellite detects an abnormal temperature, it's difficult to detect."
"This kind of fire can burn all the way to the top of the mineral layer and groundwater. Although it spreads slowly, at only 4-5 meters per hour, and can only burn several dozen meters in a day and night, it is not easy to extinguish and can burn for days, months or even longer."
"Underground fires that occur in autumn usually survive the winter and continue , so they are also called overwintering fires."
The audience was once again shocked by the power of nature. It was also the first time they heard of fire burning underground.
[What would happen if this underground fire spread to the coal?]
[Wasn't that a direct explosion? ]
Amid the discussion of the audience, Bifang began to dig a hole in the ground, preparing to build a greenhouse next to it and to let out as much smoke as possible.
With the efforts of one person and three dogs, the progress was rapid and it was completely dug out in just one afternoon.
Bifang also immediately diverted the flames. Although the possibility of artificially igniting the charcoal layer was extremely low, there was still a lot of snow covering it, which would melt into water and extinguish the flames once the temperature rose, but it was still better to be cautious.
As a public figure, Bifang must also try his best to convey correct knowledge and methods to the audience.
With fire and food, Bifang and the three idiots stayed there for three days. The blizzard and sandstorm outside finally showed signs of stopping.
And the eternal night will come in less than five days.
