Australia fires release huge amount of CO2

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Bushfires that have scorched Australia’s Victoria state released millions of tons of carbon dioxide and forest fires could become a growing source of carbon pollution as the planet warms, a top scientist said on Thursday.

Mark Adams of the University of Sydney said global warming could trigger a vicious cycle in which forests could stop becoming sinks of CO2, further accelerating the rise of the planet-warming gas in the atmosphere.

“With increasing concerns about rising CO2, rising temperatures and reduced rainfall in many of the forested areas, then we could well see much greater emissions from forest fires,” Adams, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, told Reuters.

… “Scientists worldwide are worried about fires and forests. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Arctic tundra fires, or peat fires in Kalimantan or bushfires in Australia,” said Adams, who has worked in collaboration with the Bushfire Co-operative Research Center.

Reuters