Study: Carbon Output From Amazon Fires Peaks Years After Fires Go Out; Big Trees Take Time To Die
Amazon forest fires continue to drive greenhouse gas emissions for up to around two decades after burning out, new research finds. This is because the damage sustained by trees during a fire causes them to die slowly over the course of several years, according to the research. As trees die, they release their long-held stores of carbon into the atmosphere.
The slow death of trees means that emissions from forest fires do not reach their peak until four years after the flames have stopped, the research finds. When emissions from after the fire itself are accounted for, they make up 73 per cent of total emissions from a single wildfire, the study says. For the research, scientists visited four sites across the Brazillian Amazon that had been affected by fire once between one and 30 years ago.
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The researchers visited each site two to six times to take tree measurements. These measurements were then used to work out how much carbon was being stored or emitted in each site. The research found that carbon emissions were highest for trees that had experienced a fire four years ago. Camila Valeria, a PhD student studying the Amazon at Lancaster University and lead author of the new research, which was published in Environmental Research Letters, told The Independent:
“The effect of fires on the trees takes time. The large trees, which store the most carbon, start to die around two to three years after the fires. Once those trees start to die, there is a real decrease in the carbon stock of the forest.” Emissions in the aftermath of fires continued for up to 25 years after a fire had occurred, according to the research.
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https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/amazon-forest-fires-wildfires-emissions-bolsonaro-b1588041.html
