Smoke on the water, a photo from North Yorkshire, England

::: Smoke on the water by four

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Photographer's Note

Controlled burning of the heather moorland sends a plume of smoke out towards the North Sea.

This is an important management tool; without burning small patches on a 10 to 15 year cycle, dangerous amounts of old material builds up which can lead to catastrophic, 'hot' fires in summer which ignite the underlying peat - if this happens the peat burns for months and the area will grow little but moss for years.

New shoots soon spring up after controlled burning, which are good for sheep and grouse - the main 'produce' of the moorland.

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