The Happening

happyninja42

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Yes, but scaling it up for a very substantial part of a tree to pop is something that won't necessarily occur without very specific and extreme conditions.
True, but a wildfire is both a very specific, and extreme condition. So it's not that unreasonable of a reaction I think.
 

happyninja42

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I personally think that defines "explosion" down to requiring a chemical reaction, when simply a "sudden violent release of pressure" is a more apt description (think steam pipe exploding). But yeah, nature be weird and wonderful!
Yeah I mean if someone wants to try and specifically define explosion, fine. But when people are describing such a thing, we all know the general meaning people are using. Whether it's technically an explosion if it's only a violent release of confined pressure due to increasing heat on a container, or chemical reaction, it's really a tomayto, tomahto kind of thing. In the end, the tree went boom.
 

Agema

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True, but a wildfire is both a very specific, and extreme condition. So it's not that unreasonable of a reaction I think.
I would speculate that wildfire is still very unlikely to generate sufficient temperature increase in a fast enough time without degrading the outside such that it could contain a substantial amount of pressure.

It did also occur to me that if a tree rots from the inside and eventually collapses, the effect of the treetop weight pushing down on the trunk may cause a dramatic expulsion of chunks and splinters when it gives way, akin to an explosion.
 

happyninja42

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I would speculate that wildfire is still very unlikely to generate sufficient temperature increase in a fast enough time without degrading the outside such that it could contain a substantial amount of pressure.
*shrugs* I'm not a botanist so I'm speculating as well. I do know however, that some materials are far more resilient to heat/flame, and that plenty of plants have evolved to live in an area that annually has massive fires. So again, doesn't seem out of the realm of plausible to me.

Could be pressure, could be an actual chemical reaction to high concentrations of sugary pulp being exposed to fire, mixed with other chemicals that commonly make explosives. Given how much heat can ripple off in waves from miles wide fires, well beyond the edge of the actual flames, it seems plausible that the heat moving ahead of the flames, coupled with wind and other factors, could sustain a temperature high enough to trigger this effect.

But again, not a botanist, just speculation.
 

Trunkage

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Yeah I mean if someone wants to try and specifically define explosion, fine. But when people are describing such a thing, we all know the general meaning people are using. Whether it's technically an explosion if it's only a violent release of confined pressure due to increasing heat on a container, or chemical reaction, it's really a tomayto, tomahto kind of thing. In the end, the tree went boom.
I think there are different types of explosion. If you're going to use one that doesn't explode exactly like a bomb then maybe add a little nuance to explain what you mean
 

happyninja42

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I think there are different types of explosion. If you're going to use one that doesn't explode exactly like a bomb then maybe add a little nuance to explain what you mean
Are you telling me to provide nuance, or just saying this should be done in general? Because the post you quoted is me simply replying to someone else who was saying "well actually it's not an explosion." I personally don't care about the pedantic aspect of explosion, debating if it's "technically" an explosion if it's just a pressure burst, versus a chemical reaction. In my book, if it violently goes boom, expelling stuff that was previously contained outward in a blast radius, it's an explosion, at least in layman's terms between people describing what happened. The mechanism for that boom isn't a detail I'm too worried about.
 

Trunkage

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Are you telling me to provide nuance, or just saying this should be done in general? Because the post you quoted is me simply replying to someone else who was saying "well actually it's not an explosion." I personally don't care about the pedantic aspect of explosion, debating if it's "technically" an explosion if it's just a pressure burst, versus a chemical reaction. In my book, if it violently goes boom, expelling stuff that was previously contained outward in a blast radius, it's an explosion, at least in layman's terms between people describing what happened. The mechanism for that boom isn't a detail I'm too worried about.
In general. Trump was getting in trouble for using 'trees are exploding.' It gave the impression that it was like a grenade... when it's more like a flamethrower

Edit: I can understand why he used the term explode. But it may give a false impression
 

Dirty Hipsters

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What part of California are you in? My sis in San Diego is near the coast too, but she has been complaining about her air quality for days. The Valley fire there was pretty bad too though. It says 87% contained still on the map I am looking at , but I thought it was more by now.
I live in Santa Monica.

If you're within a couple miles of the coast right now the air is quite breathable. It wasn't great last week and early this week, but since the winds have shifted to the east it's carrying the smoke away from us now.

1600478544189.png
 

lil devils x

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I live in Santa Monica.

If you're within a couple miles of the coast right now the air is quite breathable. It wasn't great last week and early this week, but since the winds have shifted to the east it's carrying the smoke away from us now.

View attachment 932
You are so lucky right now. My sister is near the coast, but the Valley Fire in San Diego was just now contained there and I think the Mountains there impact the way the air flows there so even the weekly forecast still looks moderate at best. Looks like they are still forecasted to be unhealthy again on Thursday. She doesn't have air conditioning either since she restored her historic early 1900's home so it has been difficult not being able to open windows to keep cool as well. I think her husband was trying to get them a portable one or something, but I am not sure how his search efforts paid off yet.

 
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tstorm823

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Trees, man.

If you take the environmentalist view of humanity, we are a plague. We spread to the corners of the world, we destroy ecosystems that aren't centralized around ourselves, we choke out other species who can't compete, we even choke out ourselves in direct competition. We release noxious fumes that ruin the air quality, and we potentially cause mass extinctions through all of these things.

But all of that description is less accurately applied to humans than it is to trees. Trees are everything people are criticized for and worse. Some trees drop herbicidal chemicals from their leaves and needles so that no other plant can grow near them. Some trees depend on burning whole ecosystems to the ground in order to propagate. Trees use as fuel and lumber was the seed for human technology to sprout from. The climate changing from the burning of carbon based fuels traces straight back to trees. There is nothing so ironic as the environmentalist embrace of trees as a symbol of nature.

And here we are at a moment in time with the trees in the western US are all burning down from their insistence on growing in a climate that can't support them without fire, while in many parts of the world people attempt to "fight climate change" by planting millions of trees in places that likely can't support them without them eventually setting on fire.

Trees, man.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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You are so lucky right now. My sister is near the coast, but the Valley Fire in San Diego was just now contained there and I think the Mountains there impact the way the air flows there so even the weekly forecast still looks moderate at best. Looks like they are still forecasted to be unhealthy again on Thursday. She doesn't have air conditioning either since she restored her historic early 1900's home so it has been difficult not being able to open windows to keep cool as well. I think her husband was trying to get them a portable one or something, but I am not sure how his search efforts paid off yet.

I don't understand living in California without AC.

Whenever I'm looking at apartments if the landlord tells me they don't have AC it's an immediate deal breaker. It gets to over 100 degrees in the summer, fuck that noise.
 

Kwak

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Trees, man.

If you take the environmentalist view of humanity, we are a plague. We spread to the corners of the world, we destroy ecosystems that aren't centralized around ourselves, we choke out other species who can't compete, we even choke out ourselves in direct competition. We release noxious fumes that ruin the air quality, and we potentially cause mass extinctions through all of these things.

But all of that description is less accurately applied to humans than it is to trees. Trees are everything people are criticized for and worse. Some trees drop herbicidal chemicals from their leaves and needles so that no other plant can grow near them. Some trees depend on burning whole ecosystems to the ground in order to propagate. Trees use as fuel and lumber was the seed for human technology to sprout from. The climate changing from the burning of carbon based fuels traces straight back to trees. There is nothing so ironic as the environmentalist embrace of trees as a symbol of nature.

And here we are at a moment in time with the trees in the western US are all burning down from their insistence on growing in a climate that can't support them without fire, while in many parts of the world people attempt to "fight climate change" by planting millions of trees in places that likely can't support them without them eventually setting on fire.

Trees, man.
You've reached peak right wing
 
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SupahEwok

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I don't understand living in California without AC.

Whenever I'm looking at apartments if the landlord tells me they don't have AC it's an immediate deal breaker. It gets to over 100 degrees in the summer, fuck that noise.
As a Texan, I don't understand living without AC anywhere.

"What do you mean, it's so hot inside? Just turn down the AC. What, you don't have central air? WHY"
 

Dwarvenhobble

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For what it's worth



Fire hazard
Eucalyptus trees bent over due to the high winds and heat of the October 2007 California wildfires. They are located in the San Dieguito River Park of San Diego County and leaning west
Eucalyptus oil is highly flammable; ignited trees have been known to explode.[30][31] Bushfires can travel easily through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns.[32][33] Eucalypts obtain long-term fire survivability from their ability to regenerate from epicormic buds situated deep within their thick bark, or from lignotubers,[34] or by producing serotinous fruits.[35]
 

lil devils x

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I don't understand living in California without AC.

Whenever I'm looking at apartments if the landlord tells me they don't have AC it's an immediate deal breaker. It gets to over 100 degrees in the summer, fuck that noise.
She lives in a historic house built in like 1908 or something. But where she is at, it rarely ever gets hot:

Average monthly temperatures range from 57.3 Ā°F (14.1 Ā°C) in January to 72 Ā°F (22 Ā°C) in August On average, 344 days a year are hotter than 60 Ā°F (16 Ā°C), but only 25 days are hotter than 80 Ā°F (27 Ā°C).

.

Usually in September, the hottest month there, she would plan to travel so it wouldn't be an issue, but due to the Pandemic, she was forced to be home this year.

In previous years she was always up in the mountains in September. I am envious of her weather there though. ONLY 25 DAYS A YEAR OVER 80F!!! It is like perfect weather there all the time.
 
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