Wildfires are accelerating carbon loss from ecosystems, reducing the planet’s ability to store carbon and complicating efforts to meet global climate targets.
Wildfires are accelerating carbon loss from ecosystems, reducing the planet’s ability to store carbon and complicating efforts to meet global climate targets. According to new research led by the UK Met Office and UKCEH scientists alongside Brazil-based collaborators, fire is already affecting land carbon sinks, especially forest ecosystems, making it harder to slow global warming, even before we reach 1.5°C of warming.
“At 1.3°C of warming, we're already seeing fire-related impacts on carbon storage in ecosystems," said lead author Dr Chantelle Burton. “This makes the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement even more critical to prevent escalating impacts.” The study highlights how fire is not just a future challenge but a current issue, as fires are already reducing the capacity of forests and other ecosystems to sequester carbon. “Fires are reducing the ability of forests and other ecosystems to store carbon, narrowing our window to keep global warming in check,” Dr Burton added.
Co-author Dr Douglas Kelley, a land surface modeller from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology highlighted the immediate concern. “Our findings underscore a stark reality: fires are not just an issue for the future; they're affecting our planet now. As temperatures rise, fires are increasingly pushing natural carbon sinks towards sources of carbon emissions.”
Read more at: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Photo Credit: Vlad_Aivazovsky via Pixabay
