The climate loop that devastates the forests of Alaska, Siberia and Canada

Arctic regions such as Alaska, Siberia and northern Canada are experiencing one of the hottest and driest summers in recent history this year. The high temperatures of recent weeks are fueling forest fires in some of these Nordic areas and the combustion of forest mass causes the emission into the atmosphere of large amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the gases that increases the greenhouse effect and, therefore, feeds the climate crisis.

High temperatures cause more fires and fires fuel climate change. We are in a loop from which it is increasingly difficult to get out.

The latest report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO, published on 12 July) on this summer’s fires in arctic regions leaves little room for optimism. After recalling that the Northern Hemisphere registers so far this summer “atypically hot and dry conditions that have occurred in some parts of the northern hemisphere have triggered important fires from the Mediterranean area to the Arctic region, which has been especially affected”, the WMO generalizes the situation explaining that “climate change, characterized by rising temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns, it is aggravating the risk of wildfires and prolonging the season in which they occur.”

In an effort to make the world’s population understand the importance of forest fire prevention, the WMO Global Atmosphere Monitoring Programme has released a short animated video highlighting the dangers of wildfires. This animation also shows the advances in satellite technologies that allow to determine and monitor the risk of fire. “Improving forecasting systems is vital to be able to issue predictions and warnings of fire risk and the hazards linked to air pollution,” explains WMO.

The WMO stresses that, “in addition to combustion posing a direct threat, forest fires emit harmful pollutants into the atmosphere, such as particulate matter and toxic gases, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and organic compounds other than methane.” “The particles and gases emitted by the combustion of biomass can be transported over long distances and reduce the air quality of distant regions,” says this specialized organization of the UN.

Heat waves lead to fires

Since the beginning of June, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has recorded more than 100 high-intensity and long-lasting forest fires in the Arctic Circle. In the month of June alone, these fires emitted 50 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to Sweden’s total annual emissions. In addition, this figure is higher than the sum of the emissions released by Arctic fires in the months of June of the period 2010-2018.

According to Mark Parrington, CAMS senior scientist and wildfire expert, although fires are common in the Northern Hemisphere between May and October, the latitude and intensity of these fires, as well as the amount of time they have been burning, have been especially atypical.

Arctic fires have been most severe in Alaska and Siberia, where they are still active. Some have reached dimensions equivalent to those of 100,000 football fields or those of all Lanzarote. In Alberta, Canada, one of the fires is estimated to have reached more than 300,000 soccer fields. In Alaska alone, CAMS has recorded nearly 400 wildfires and new fires every day this year.

The average temperature in June in the areas of Siberia that are being hit by forest fires was 10 °C higher than the average for the period 1981-2010. On July 4, new temperature records were recorded in Alaska, where 90 °F (32 °C) were reached. The heat caused numerous fires to break out in the state, including those along the Yukon River and the Arctic Circle. In Canada, the huge wildfires that broke out near Ontario are producing large amounts of particulate matter, affecting air quality. The late June heatwave in Europe also sparked wildfires in several countries, including Germany, Greece and Spain.

The CAMS, coordinated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Prediction (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Union (EU), aims to monitor fires and estimate the amount of pollutants they emit, and incorporates into its Global Fire Data Assimilation System (GFAS) forest fire observations from the MODIS instruments of the Terra and Aqua satellites of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. United States (NASA).

According to data from the Global Fire Data Assimilation System (GFAS) of the Atmosphere Monitoring Service of the Copernicus programme (CAMS), the fires that have hit Siberia recently are an “unprecedented” phenomenon in the month of June in the last 17 years. The GFAS brings together observations of fire radiative energy made through sensors on satellites to establish daily estimates of emissions from biomass combustion. This process is part of the detailed measurements made by numerous stations of the Global Atmosphere Monitoring Program (GAG). Program measurements are critical for forecasting, research into the composition of the atmosphere, and the establishment of warning systems.

On July 4, new temperature records were recorded in Alaska, where 80 °F (32 °C) were reached. The heat caused numerous fires to break out in the state, including those along the Yukon River and the Arctic Circle. In Canada, the huge wildfires that broke out near Ontario are producing large amounts of particulate matter, affecting air quality. The late June heatwave in Europe also sparked wildfires in several countries, including Germany, Greece and Spain.

Climate change

The northern hemisphere is warming faster than the rest of the planet. That heat dries out forests and increases the risk of fire. According to a recent study, Earth’s boreal forests are burning at a rate unprecedented for at least 10,000 years.

Wildfires also emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to increased global warming. For example, the 2014 megafires in Canada burned more than 2.8 million hectares of forests, resulting in the emission of more than 103 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere. According to a study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), this figure corresponds to half of the total amount of carbon that is usually absorbed by the country’s trees and plants over the course of a year.

The pristine Arctic environment, which is particularly sensitive and fragile, is warming faster than most regions. Smoke particles can be deposited on snow and ice, absorbing sunlight that would otherwise be reflected. As a result, warming in the Arctic region accelerates. Fires in that region also increase the risk of further thawing of permafrost, which releases methane, another greenhouse gas.

Source: The Vanguard