The Arctic is burning like never before — and that’s bad news for climate change

The Arctic is burning like never before — and that’s bad news for climate change

Arctic fires emit record CO₂

Wildfires that incinerated tundra along the Arctic Circle this summer released a record 244 megatonnes of carbon dioxide — 35% more than last year, which was also a record breaker. Scientists think the fires are so bad in part because they’re torching peatlands, which have accumulated carbon over many millennia, making them the most carbon-dense ecosystem on Earth. The fires are part of a vicious cycle: their emissions fuel global heating, leading to ever-worse fires, which release yet more carbon. Recent research shows that northern peatlands could eventually shift from being a net sink for carbon to a net source of carbon — and, say scientists, the transformation is already under way.

Nature | 5 min readReference: PNAS paper