Extreme wildfires in Canada and their contribution to global loss in tree cover and carbon emissions in 2023.
Glob Chang Biol
; 30(6): e17392, 2024 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38934256
ABSTRACT
Canadian wildfires in 2023 were record breaking with wide-reaching impacts on people, nature, and climate. Extreme heat and low rainfall associated with climate change led to unprecedented forest fires that released enormous amounts of carbon as they burned. This study used data on fire-driven tree cover loss and forest carbon fluxes to estimate the total extent of stand-replacing forest fires and their associated carbon emissions. We found that the 2023 Canadian wildfires burned nearly 7.8 million hectares of forest and accounted for more than a quarter of all tree cover loss globally. Furthermore, forests impacted by wildfires emitted nearly 3 billion tons of CO2 or about 25% more carbon than all primary tropical tree cover loss that year. These results have important implications for global carbon budgets because emissions from these wildfires will largely be excluded from official greenhouse gas reporting.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Árvores
/
Mudança Climática
/
Florestas
/
Incêndios Florestais
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Glob Chang Biol
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos