Comment on Wildfires Are Burning Through Humanity’s Carbon Budget, Study Shows

Wildfires Are Burning Through Humanity’s Carbon Budget, Study Shows

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Wildfires are burning through the carbon budget that humans have allocated themselves to limit global heating, a study shows. The authors said this accelerating trend was approaching—and may have already breached—a “critical temperature threshold” after which fires cause significant shifts in tree cover and carbon storage. “Alarmingly, the latest temperature at which, globally, these impacts become pronounced is 1.34 C—close to current levels of warming” above preindustrial levels, said the UK Met Office, which led the research. Forests are going up in smoke in Brazil, the US, Greece, Portugal, and even the Arctic Circle amid Earth’s two hottest years in recorded history. “Fires are reducing the ability of forests and other ecosystems to store carbon, narrowing our window to keep global warming in check.” Each fire has a double impact on the global climate: first, by emitting carbon from the burned trees, and second, by reducing the capacity of forests to absorb carbon dioxide. This adds to the heat in the Earth system, which has already been raised by the burning of gas, oil, and coal.

 

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