Whereas in a usual flame molecules break down to small fragments and combine with oxygen producing carbon dioxide (i.e. burn), in a cool flame, the fragments are relatively large and easily recombine with each other. Therefore, much less heat, light and carbon dioxide is released; the combustion process is oscillatory and can sustain for a long time. A typical temperature increase upon ignition of a cool flame is a few tens of degrees Celsius whereas it is on the order of 1000 °C for a conventional flame.[2][12]