Arctic wildfires could release frozen permafrost carbon in warming scenarios

The short version

• Canadian wildfires released more carbon in 2023 than the country's combined fossil fuel emissions.[MIT Technology Review]
• Arctic permafrost has shrunk about 12% since 1850, with loss accelerating over the past 50 years.[MIT Technology Review]
• Under high warming scenarios, fire-driven thaw could release nearly 80 billion tons of CO2 by 2100, a model-based estimate.[MIT Technology Review]

Key facts

• Intensifying wildfires in Canada released more carbon than the nation's combined fossil fuel emissions in 2023.[MIT Technology Review]
• The footprint of Arctic permafrost has shrunk by about 12% since 1850, with loss rapidly accelerating during the last 50 years.[MIT Technology Review]
• By 2100, fire-driven permafrost thaw could release about nearly 80 billion tons of carbon dioxide under high warming scenarios, according to a January study cited in the report.[MIT Technology Review]
• A 2022 Science Advances paper led by researchers at Woodwell and the Union of Concerned Scientists found that greater efforts to put out boreal fires could be a cost-effective climate solution.[MIT Technology Review]
• In 2019, the Yukon Flats region suffered a series of devastating fires that burned some 750,000 acres.[MIT Technology Review]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.

• Inside the quest to combat Arctic fires and save the planet’s frozen carbonMIT Technology Review metered