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New Gel Lets Us Spread Flame Retardant Before Wildfires Start

posted by Fnord666 on Monday October 07 2019, @05:41AM   
from the can't-light-this dept.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337

New gel lets us spread flame retardant before wildfires start

The last few years have seen horrific fire seasons in California, resulting in destruction, deaths, and economic damage. And with climate change continuing unabated, things are set to get worse.

Prevention is better than firefighting; avoiding carelessness is one way to reduce the huge number of human-caused wildfires. But a paper in PNAS this week reports a new option for wildfire prevention: a fire retardant-carrying gel that coats vegetation in a thin film, keeping that vegetation safe from fire long enough to see it through fire season. If it is demonstrated to be safe, it could allow us to spray high-risk areas at the start of fire season and keep protection through until heavy rains start.

[...] Stanford materials scientist Anthony Yu and his colleagues wanted to figure out a way to get a retardant to stick to vegetation long enough to make it through California's fire season. They used nontoxic substances that are used in food and agricultural products—silica and cellulose—to make a carrier for a fire retardant that's already used in current formulations. The new gel makes the retardant stick to the vegetation for longer periods of time.

[...] The gel's longevity means that it could be sprayed at the start of wildfire season, and last long enough to offer protection until the first heavy rainfall. Once the heavy rain starts, wildfire risk starts dropping anyway.

The gel can be distributed using standard pumping equipment, so it should be quite easy to apply. And it wouldn't need to be sprayed everywhere: human-caused fires often start in high-risk places like roadsides. So, reducing wildfires wouldn't mean coating everything in retardant—focusing just on the high-risk zones would make a big difference.

Obviously, there's more testing needed before this option can be widely used, but this could be a beacon for a world facing ever more extreme wildfires.

Wildfire prevention through prophylactic treatment of high-risk landscapes using viscoelastic retardant fluids (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1907855116)

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Original Submission

• ever more extreme wildfiresever more extreme wildfires (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 07 2019, @07:20AM (3 children)

  by Runaway1956 (2926) on Monday October 07 2019, @07:20AM (#903617) Journal

  An observation.

  The white man wasn't here 1000 years ago, with his records-keeping. Why do we presume that wildfires are "ever more extreme wildfires"? That phrase, and the article we find it in, is just another example of the climate change scare tactics.

  https://depts.washington.edu/propplnt/2003guidelines/group1/Smoke%20Infusion.htm [washington.edu]

  Smoke Infusion for Seed Germination
  in Fire-adapted Species

  Daniela Shebitz, Anne Andreu, Marlo Mytty, Doug Schmitt, and Mike Cooksey

  Introduction

  Numerous species that inhabit fire-dependent ecosystems have evolved reproductive strategies to adapt to factors associated with fire (Van Staden et al. 2000). These adaptations are particularly evident in seeds that respond to the physical (i.e. temperature and light) and/or chemical (smoke, gas, nutrients) germination cues associated with fire. In fact, many species have evolved barriers to seed germination that are overcome only by fire-related cues (Keeley 1998).

  Seeds of many species germinate in response to physical signals associated with fire, such as fracturing or desiccation of the seed coat by heat (Jeffrey et al. 1998). Heat may also stimulate the embryo directly (Blommaert 1972). For a substantial number of species with fire-triggered germination, however, chemicals from combustion induce germination, not the heat (Keeley 1998).

  In western North America and South Africa, numerous species have been stimulated by exposure to chemicals in charred wood. While it is unclear whether the chemicals in charred wood are the same as those responsible for smoke-induced germination, the chemicals in smoke have also been found to stimulate germination of seeds. Plants whose seeds have been stimulated by smoke belong to a variety of environments ranging from South American fynbos shrub to savannas, the Great basin, Australian heath shrubland and California chaparral (Keeley 1998).

  In this paper, we will first present the effects that smoke has on seed germination, discuss why this relationship can be incorporated into habitat restoration, and provide information on species and ecosystems that can potentially benefit from smoke technology. We will then discuss various methods of incorporating smoke technology into restoration, explaining in detail our method of choice.

  General effects of smoke on germination

  Smoke is clearly one of the products generated as a consequence of fire. There is no evident indication of the mechanisms by which smoke affects germination. It is known, however, that the chemical signals of smoke not only influence seeds during fires and in the immediate post-fire environment, but the signals last for considerable periods after the fire, and perhaps most importantly, can travel to communities long distances away from the fire (Van Staden et al. 2000).

  Due to the fact that smoke particles can adhere to plant surfaces, persist in the soil, and be adsorbed to soil particles, smoke particles have major effects on scarified seeds in the soil (Van Staden et al. 2000). Egerton-Warburton (1998) demonstrated that this ability of smoke to adhere to soil and plant surfaces plays a role in the germination process by changing the morphology of the seed and causing an intense chemical scarification of the seed surface.

  Roche et al. (1997) found that some species respond only to smoke application to the soil seed bank, and not to the application of smoke to freshly collected seed. The authors suggest that some seeds need to enter the soil seed bank before they are receptive to the germination-promoting effects of smoke.

  In some species, such as Erica sessiliflora, smoke treatment on seeds can substitute for a light requirement. Such a response, which was also observed for light-sensitive Grand Rapids lettuce seeds (Drewes et al. 1995), makes seedling recruitment more probable if smoke dissolved in water penetrates into the soil. This characteristic ensures that even in the dark, there will be some germination of light-sensitive seeds in the absence of major soil disturbance (Van Staden et al. 2000).

  Until recently, the role of chemical cues in seed germination received little attention (Van Staden et al. 2000). In addition to heat, vegetation fires release chemical cues such as ethylene and ammonia. While both of these gases are known to stimulate germination, it has been shown that ethylene is not the active compound in smoke solutions that stimulates germination. (Jager et al. 1996). Numerous studies have attempted to determine the chemical components responsible for charred wood and smoke-stimulated germination, but have not successfully identified the active components (Keeley 1998).

  Obviously, some species are well adapted to regular exposure to fire. Have fires actually grown more "extreme"? Or, alternatively, has man simply put himself in the way of a normal cycle of burn-and-regrow?

  --
  We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.

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• Re:ever more extreme wildfiresRe:ever more extreme wildfires (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday October 07 2019, @08:03AM (2 children)

  by c0lo (156) on Monday October 07 2019, @08:03AM (#903629) Journal

  Why do we presume that wildfires are "ever more extreme wildfires"? That phrase, and the article we find it in, is just another example of the climate change scare tactics.
  ...
  Obviously, some species are well adapted to regular exposure to fire.

  Your very categorical assertion of "is just another example of the climate change scare tactics" puts you under a burden of proof (which you could have avoided if only abstain from using "just (another example)" or admit to a dose of subjectivisim - like "I feel/think/believe")

  Now, from the very "personal experience" for a tree or bush, it isn't more or less extreme - when it burns it burns, only the (adapted) seeds remain behind to repopulate the area.
  From this point of view, your "species are well adapted to regular exposure to fire" doesn't demonstrate "extremity" and neither the lack of it - just that species are adapted to a fire cycle (so your citation, as informative as it may be otherwise, neither supports nor contradicts your argument)

  Have fires actually grown more "extreme"?

  As an example of "measure of extremity": do you have any information about the area affected by a single fire? Perhaps the frequency of such events?
  Are you sure you use the same meaning for "extreme" as the authors which you accuse of "just scare tactics"?

  --
  https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

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  • Re:ever more extreme wildfiresRe:ever more extreme wildfires (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @02:44PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07 2019, @02:44PM (#903707)

    You're wasting your time trying to convince Runaway. He "knows" much but understands little.

    --
    We need to eat the babies! - some conservative at an AOC townhall meeting

    Parent

    • Re:ever more extreme wildfires(Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday October 07 2019, @11:12PM

      by Mykl (1112) on Monday October 07 2019, @11:12PM (#903889)

      Modded you Touche for the sig

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