The Impact of Boreal Forest Fire on Climate Warming

Author(s): J. T. Randerson ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , H. Liu ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , M. G. Flanner ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , S. D. Chambers ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , Y. Jin ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , P. G. Hess ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , G. Pfister ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , M. C. Mack ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , K. K. Treseder ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , L. R. Welp ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , F. S. Chapin ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , J. W. Harden ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , M. L. Goulden ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , E. Lyons ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , J. C. Neff ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , E. A. G. Schuur ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵ , C. S. Zender ¹ ^, ² ^, ³ ^, ⁴ ^, ⁵

Publication date Created: November 17 2006

Publication date (Print): November 17 2006

Journal: Science

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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Abstract

We report measurements and analysis of a boreal forest fire, integrating the effects of greenhouse gases, aerosols, black carbon deposition on snow and sea ice, and postfire changes in surface albedo. The net effect of all agents was to increase radiative forcing during the first year (34 Â± 31 Watts per square meter of burned area), but to decrease radiative forcing when averaged over an 80-year fire cycle (â2.3 Â± 2.2 Watts per square meter) because multidecadal increases in surface albedo had a larger impact than fire-emitted greenhouse gases. This result implies that future increases in boreal fire may not accelerate climate warming.

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Most cited references 26

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Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle.

V. Ramanathan, P. J. Crutzen, J. T. Kiehl … (2001)

Human activities are releasing tiny particles (aerosols) into the atmosphere. These human-made aerosols enhance scattering and absorption of solar radiation. They also produce brighter clouds that are less efficient at releasing precipitation. These in turn lead to large reductions in the amount of solar irradiance reaching Earth's surface, a corresponding increase in solar heating of the atmosphere, changes in the atmospheric temperature structure, suppression of rainfall, and less efficient removal of pollutants. These aerosol effects can lead to a weaker hydrological cycle, which connects directly to availability and quality of fresh water, a major environmental issue of the 21st century.

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First operational BRDF, albedo nadir reflectance products from MODIS

Crystal Schaaf, Feng Gao, Alan H. Strahler … (2002)

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Role of land-surface changes in arctic summer warming.

F Chapin, M. Sturm, M Serreze … (2005)

A major challenge in predicting Earth's future climate state is to understand feedbacks that alter greenhouse-gas forcing. Here we synthesize field data from arctic Alaska, showing that terrestrial changes in summer albedo contribute substantially to recent high-latitude warming trends. Pronounced terrestrial summer warming in arctic Alaska correlates with a lengthening of the snow-free season that has increased atmospheric heating locally by about 3 watts per square meter per decade (similar in magnitude to the regional heating expected over multiple decades from a doubling of atmospheric CO2). The continuation of current trends in shrub and tree expansion could further amplify this atmospheric heating by two to seven times.

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Author and article information

Journal

Title: Science

Abbreviated Title: Science

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

ISSN (Print): 0036-8075

ISSN (Electronic): 1095-9203

Publication date Created: November 17 2006

Publication date (Print): November 17 2006

Volume: 314

Issue: 5802

Pages: 1130-1132

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.

[2 ]Department of Physics, Atmospheric Science, and General Science, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA.

[3 ]Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Environmental Division, Menai, NSW 2234, Australia.

[4 ]Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.

[5 ]Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

Article

DOI: 10.1126/science.1132075

PubMed ID: 17110574

SO-VID: 484d00e4-03c3-4799-bce2-231424a5ed0f

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The Impact of Boreal Forest Fire on Climate Warming

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SDG 13: Climate Action

Most cited references 26

Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle.

First operational BRDF, albedo nadir reflectance products from MODIS

Role of land-surface changes in arctic summer warming.

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Cited by 264

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