page_title: Coal-seam fire
section_title: Environmental impact
hierarchical_section_title: Coal-seam fire / Environmental impact
caption_attribution_description: English: A burning coal mine near Denniston, New Zealand.
context_page_description: A coal-seam fire is a natural burning of an outcrop or underground coal seam. Most coal-seam fires exhibit smoldering combustion, particularly underground coal-seam fires, because of limited atmospheric oxygen availability. Coal-seam fire instances on Earth date back several million years. Due to fine thermal insulation and the avoidance of rain/snow extinguishment by the crust, underground coal-seam fires are the most persistent fires on Earth and can burn for thousands of years, like Burning Mountain in Australia. Coal-seam fires can be ignited by self-heating of low-temperature oxidation, lightning, wildfires and even arson. Coal-seam fires have been slowly shaping the lithosphere and changing atmosphere, but this pace has become fast and extensive at modern times, triggered by enormous mining activities.
  Coal fires are a serious health and safety hazard, affecting the environment by releasing toxic fumes, reigniting grass, brush, or forest fires, and causing subsidence of surface infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, electric lines, bridge supports, buildings, and homes.
context_section_description: Besides destruction of the affected areas, coal fires often emit toxic gases, including carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. China's coal fires, which consume an estimated 20 – 200 million tons of coal a year, make up as much as 1 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.
  One of the most visible changes will be the effect of subsidence upon the landscape. Another local environmental effect can include the presence of plants or animals that are aided by the coal fire.  The prevalence of otherwise non-native plants can depend upon the fire's duration and the size of the affected area. For example, near a coal fire in Germany, many Mediterranean insects and spiders were identified in a region with cold winters, and it is believed that elevated ground temperatures above the fires permitted their survival.
caption: A coal seam fire near Denniston, New Zealand
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