[✔️] August 18, 2022 - Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/*August 18, 2022*/

/[  BBC unafraid of delivering difficult news ]/
*Climate change: 'Staggering' rate of global tree losses from fires*
By Matt McGrath - Environment correspondent
August 17, 2022
Around 16 football pitches of trees per minute were lost to forest fires 
in 2021, a new report says.

Data from Global Forest Watch suggests that across the globe, the amount 
of tree cover being burned has nearly doubled in the past 20 years.

Climate change is a key factor in the increase as it leads to higher 
temperatures and drier conditions.

Of the 9 million hectares of trees consumed by fire in 2021, over five 
million were in Russia.

The new data allows researchers to distinguish between trees lost to 
fires, and those destroyed for agriculture, logging or during 
intentional burns.

In 2021, the second worst year for fires on record, an area the size of 
Portugal was lost.

"It is staggering," says James MacCarthy, an analyst with Global Forest 
Watch.

"It's roughly twice what it was just 20 years ago. It is kind of 
astonishing just how much fire activity has increased over such a short 
amount of time."

The impacts of fire-related losses are being felt primarily in forests 
in more northerly countries like Canada and Russia.

While fire is a natural part of how these forests have long functioned, 
the scale of destruction seen in Russia in 2021 was unprecedented.

Of the 9.3 million hectares (23 million acres) burnt globally, Russia 
accounted for more than half.

"What's most concerning is that fires are becoming more frequent, more 
severe and have the potential to unlock a lot of the carbon that's 
stored in soils there," said James MacCarthy.

Trees and soils store carbon dioxide - one of the key gases warming our 
atmosphere - and experts say they are crucial in tackling climate change.

Climate change is seen as a key driver of these fires, with rising 
temperatures creating the drier conditions in which more trees burn.

Northern regions of the world are warming at a faster rate, leading to 
longer fire seasons.

In Russia, the 31% increase in fire losses in 2021 was due in part to 
the prolonged heatwaves that experts believe would have been practically 
impossible without human-induced warming.

"Climate change is increasing the risk of hotter, faster and larger 
fires," said Dr Doug Morton, who's chief of the Biospheric Sciences 
Laboratory at Nasa.

"And that's nowhere more visible than forests and woodlands where you 
have plenty of fuel to burn."

In other parts of the world, the impact of deforestation is also leading 
to more fires.

In the Brazilian Amazon, which recently saw the number of trees felled 
climb to a six year high, the losses due to agricultural clearing and 
logging are having a knock-on effect.

"Deforestation changes local and regional climates and removes a lot of 
the evapotranspiration that help keep temperatures low and more humid," 
said James MacCarthy.

"So cutting down these forests is actually making them hotter and drier, 
and making them more prone to fires."

While many of the trees that burn down will grow back over a period of 
100 years or so, there are significant associated impacts of these 
losses on biodiversity, on water quality and soil erosion.

The UN says that the outlook for forest fires in the decades ahead is 
grim. There is an expected increase of 50% in extreme fires by the end 
of this century.

To address this problem, scientists say that rapid and deep cuts in 
global carbon emissions are key.

Global leaders at the climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow last 
year pledged to end deforestation, but the promise must be honoured if 
it's to make a difference.

More focus on preventing forest fires, rather than fighting them, is 
still needed, according to Mr MacCarthy.

"About 50% of national fire budgets are for responding to fires and less 
than 1% is really for preparing and planning," he says.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62569394



[ a little bit of science ]
*Explained: The Relationship Between Climate Change and Wildfires*
August 17, 2022
By Mark Belan
How Climate Change is Influencing Wildfires
Each year, thousands of wildfires burn through millions of acres of land 
around the world.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/climate-change-wildfires-relationship.png
We’ve already seen the mass devastation that wildfires can bring, 
especially in places like Australia, Serbia, and California. But new 
research by the UN indicates that things might get even worse by the end 
of the century. By 2100, the frequency of wildfires could increase by up 
to 50%.

What’s causing this influx of wildfires around the world? Below, we dig 
into how climate change is impacting wildfires—and how in turn, 
wildfires are impacting climate change.

*Climate Conditions That Support Wildfires*
Before diving in, it’s worth going over the basics of wildfires, and how 
they get started in the first place. An area’s vulnerability to 
wildfires, also known as its fire regime, depends on three major 
conditions: its atmosphere, vegetation, and ignitions.

*① Atmosphere*
Atmosphere plays a big part in how sensitive an area is to wildfires. 
For instance, wind can increase oxygen supply in an area, which would 
help fuel a wildfire, and may even transfer embers to new locations.

*② Vegetation*
Vegetation is also a huge factor in whether or not an area is vulnerable 
to wildfires. A region with drier vegetation may catch fire more easily, 
and an area with more forest or shrubs provides more fuel for potential 
blazes.

*③ Ignitions*
An area that’s close to volcanic activity, or prone to lightning storms 
may be more susceptible to wildfires. However, human activity like 
campfires or faulty equipment can also trigger fires, so popular areas 
for camping or logging may be at higher risk as well.

While these conditions vary depending on the location, in general, fire 
regimes are being impacted by climate change, which is causing an influx 
in the duration and intensity of wildfires around the world.

*The Fire Climate Feedback Loop*
Since the 1850s, global surface temperatures have risen by about 1.0°C 
(1.8°F).

These increased surface temperatures have had far-reaching impacts on 
our climate—in the Northern Hemisphere, warmer temperatures have led to 
less snow, earlier arrival of spring, and ultimately longer, drier fire 
seasons.

These longer fire seasons have led to an influx of wildfires. But here’s 
the kicker—wildfires emit tons of carbon. In 2021, wildfires around the 
world emitted an estimated 1.76 billion tonnes of carbon into the 
atmosphere, which for context, is more than double the annual emissions 
from the entire country of Germany.

This carbon gets trapped in our atmosphere and contributes to rising 
surface temperatures. In other words, more carbon creates more 
wildfires—and more wildfires create more carbon.

*Extreme Weather Events Are Rising In General*
It’s not just wildfires that are growing in frequency and intensity 
because of climate change—droughts, heatwaves, and floods are also 
becoming more common around the world.

This year, temperatures reached all-time highs across Europe, which 
wrecked havoc across the continent, impacted infrastructure, and even 
took lives.

Experts warn that this may become the new normal. To help mitigate risk, 
governments, policymakers, and companies need to band together to create 
safeguards and establish proper preventative measures.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/climate-change-wildfires-relationship.png
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-climate-change-is-influencing-wildfires/



/[ First reaction from scientists ]/
16 August 2022
*Scientists welcome ‘enormous’ US climate bill — but call for stronger 
action*
Biden signs historic legislation to pour billions into fighting climate 
change as the global temperature continues to rise...
- -
The United States is where the European Union was a decade ago in terms 
of climate action, Pahle says. Even with the Inflation Reduction Act, 
green investments by the United States since 2020 lag behind those of 
France, Italy and South Korea when historical emissions are factored in, 
according to data from the University of Oxford’s Global Recovery 
Observatory.

The Inflation Reduction Act isn’t perfect, Mann says. But rather than 
carping on the limitations, critics should take the win and encourage 
people to vote in the US midterm elections in November, he adds. Crucial 
seats in the US Senate and House of Representatives will be up for 
grabs. “My hope is that there will be an even larger majority of 
climate-forward legislators in Congress after the midterm elections — a 
large enough majority that we can pass legislation with more stringent 
measures.”
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02223-8
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02223-8



/[The news archive - looking back]/
/*August 18, 2015*/
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow discusses Democratic presidential candidate 
Hillary Clinton's opposition to drilling in the Arctic.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/clinton-breaks-from-obama-on-arctic-drilling-508148803750 


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