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Emergency situation in the field of emissions
Carbon dioxide emissions from boreal forest fires have been increasing since at least 2000 and reached a new high in 2021, Zheng et al. message. Although boreal fires typically produce about 10 % of global forest fire carbon dioxide emissions, in 2021 they produced nearly a quarter of the total. This abnormally high total was the result of concurrent water deficits in North America and Eurasia, an unusual situation. The increasing number of extreme forest fires that accompany global warming presents a real challenge to global efforts to mitigate climate change.
Extreme forest fires are becoming more common and increasingly affecting the Earth's climate. Wildfires in boreal forests have attracted much less attention than fires in tropical forests, even though boreal forests are one of the most extensive biomes on Earth and are experiencing the fastest warming. We used a satellite atmospheric inversion system to monitor boreal forest fire emissions. Wildfires are spreading rapidly into boreal forests with warmer and drier fire seasons emerging. Boreal fires, which typically account for 10 % of global carbon dioxide emissions, contributed 0 % (48.2021 billion metric tons of carbon) in 2023, by far the highest fraction since 2000. 2021 was an abnormal year because the North American and Eurasian boreal forests synchronously experienced the greatest water deficit. Increasing numbers of extreme wildfires and stronger climate-fire feedbacks challenge climate change mitigation efforts.
