The Irony of Wildfire Season
Oregon Wild article analysis and feelings check
The funny thing about forests, carbon sinks and wildfire season (it’s not as bad as you think) is that it feels very regenerative.
(DA thoughts in italics.)
Wildfire season– Just the phrase, I feel a wash of dread drown out my mood.
FEELINGS CHECK: worry, empathy, fear, sadness, anger.
Greenhouse gasses increase drought, so that means that the increasing threat of drought “limits the potential photosynthetic benefits of longer growing seasons and CO2 enrichment. Increasing temperature also increases rates of respiration and decomposition. Under a future climate scenario like this, Northwest forests could wither, recede geographically, and become a significant net carbon source.”
OK-OK– carbon “source” that just sounds apocalyptic.
FEELINGS CHECK: anxiety, fear.
“Disturbances such as wildfire, flooding, wind and storm damage, insect damage, and invasive species typically disrupt photosynthesis and favor respiration/decomposition processes, thereby releasing CO2 . This means that the changes in forest ecosystems created by global warming may work to exacerbate carbon pollution leading to more climate change.” says the authors of a detailed analysis report by Oregon Wild.
OK, I am freaking out– Oregon has the most wildfires currently burning in the US right now at about 28 National Fire News | National Interagency Fire Center (nifc.gov)
FEELINGS CHECK: slight panic, extreme doubt (fear), anger.
The Oregon Wild people go on to ask the same question as I have been wondering: “Are Northwest forests more likely to store more carbon or release existing carbon under a changing climate?”
The way I understand this is that forests have the ability to “sink” or drain carbon from the atmosphere. So through wildfires, aren’t we losing that many acres of our carbon sinks? The answer is complicated.
FEELINGS CHECK: irritated, fearful, anxiety.
“Pacific Northwest forests could become significant carbon sinks and help mitigate climate change if growing conditions remain favorable and disturbances like fire do not significantly increase.”
Wait, ‘remain favorable’? Umm, the Western US, Australia, Canada, and so many other beautiful places are experiencing an increase of mega wildfires every year! How should we even think about ‘disturbances like fire’ the fires DO increase every year, and are expected to continue- I thought. FEELINGS CHECK: anxiety, slight panic, the need to move to the North Pole with Santa and the elves.
“Many believe that forests are not good places to store carbon because forest fires release carbon. Certainly, forest fires do release CO2 , but only a small fraction of the total forest biomass is lost to the atmosphere.”
OK— hold up. There are a lot of mixed opinions out there about biomass….. FEELINGS CHECK: anxious, throwing my guard up.
Biomass… our climate advocacy friends know this term. And bringing up biomass sources and its uses and misuses, gets into some forest management, land back and contentious industry and corporate greenwashing (and not my field of expertise), so we will try to keep this about “feelings” and emotions as we learn more on this topic. FEELINGS CHECK: anxious, concerned, empathy, fear, loss.
The Oregon Wild report goes on to say: “Due to the incomplete combustion of large wood, 70-80 percent of the carbon in tree stems remains after forest fires and, globally, 23 times more carbon is captured by photosynthesis than is emitted by fires. Even after a forest fire, most of the dead wood remains in the forest and contributes to carbon sequestration. Taking a long-term view, forest fires represent a temporary localized dip in the landscape carbon pool that should eventually return to high levels with proper management.
Most western forests are in some ways dependent upon disturbances such as fire, and past fire suppression has exacerbated rather than solved the problem of fire. Fires can even help store carbon by increasing the vigor of large trees by killing competing small trees.
Wait, WHAT? OK– OK– this is actually encouraging news! This actually makes sense. FEELINGS CHECK: encouraged, hopeful, empowered (with knowledge), the intense need to protect old growth forests now more than ever, gratitude, worry, fear.
I hope you enjoyed this slow-down while learning about the impacts of climate change. For more, check out the Oregon Wild website’s resource archives.Climate control: How northwest old growth forests can help fight global warming (2008). Oregon Wild. Written by: Doug Heiken, Jonathan Jelen and Sean Stevens. Check out this report and more at Resources Archive - Oregon Wild
