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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/03/wildfires-are-burning-through-humanitys-carbon-budget-study-shows>
"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 1.34C – 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 the Earth’s two hottest years in recorded history.
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. Global temperatures are already 1.3C higher than
in the preindustrial age, according to the Met Office.
As temperatures rise, droughts become more frequent, rainy seasons shorten and
forests become more vulnerable to fire. This is made worse by human clearance
of land for farms, which is particularly pronounced in South America. A
separate study last week showed the continent is becoming warmer, drier, and
more flammable.
Other research showed the Amazon is undergoing a “critical slowing down”, with
more than a third of the rainforest struggling to recover from drought after
four supposedly “one-in-a-century” dry spells in less than 20 years.
These compounding impacts, which scientists call positive feedbacks, are
turning forests from carbon sinks into carbon sources.
This makes it harder to slow global heating, even before the world reaches the
1.5C lower target of the Paris climate agreement."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
