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Since 1977, the extent of forest wildfires in the boreal and western regions of North America increased by 6 to 9x over long-term trends, and an estimated 132x106 ha of temperate and boreal forest burned across the northern hemisphere. Emissions during and after burning may have been a significant positive feedback to global warming. Simulated carbon budgets indicated a hemispheric release of 1.4 Pg C during burning and 4.1 Pg C gross from CO2 fluxes postfire. The total release (5.5 Pg C) was 43% of the biospheric CO2 release to the atmosphere during the period 1977-90. Over the next century (1991-2090), continuing emissions from wood and soil decomposition will release an additional 6.9 Pg C gross. A large CO2 release was contrary to assumptions of a small net carbon flux in the temperate and boreal forests. The pattern of attenuated CO2 release in northern forests also contrasted with sharp emission peaks in tropical deforestation. A simulation experiment indicated that the CO2 pulse from direct emissions per unit area was 10x greater in tropical deforestation than in northern forest wildfires on average; postfire release in the northern systems, however, was about 10x longer in duration and only slightly less overall than in tropical deforestation fires.
Cataloging Information
- air quality
- bibliographies
- boreal forest
- C - carbon
- Canada
- carbon budget
- carbon emissions
- climate change
- climatology
- CO2 - carbon dioxide
- combustion
- conifers
- decay
- decomposition
- deforestation
- ecosystem dynamics
- fire frequency
- fire management
- fire models
- fire regimes
- fire size
- forest fire
- gases
- global warming
- hardwood forest
- soils
- temperate forests
- temperature
- tropical forest
- wilderness fire management
- wildfires
- wood
This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.