Wildfires have grown more frequent in Canada and Alaska, so researchers looked to get a better understanding of the climate impacts those fires cause.
One study with ties to Northern Arizona University found the impact was greatest where the permafrost had thawed.
Permafrost is soil that is supposed to be frozen year round. But when wildfires melt through, carbon trapped in that soil gets released, which increases the amount of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
The study found the permafrost impact was stronger in Alaska, which led to a general climate warming effect.
But Canada’s fires resulted in net climate cooling. That’s because the fires were less severe, which thawed less permafrost, and exposed snow which reflects sunlight back into space.
“A lot of the carbon that goes into the atmosphere, not just during the fire, but after the fire as it thaws deeper and deeper and you get emissions coming out of the ground, out of the permafrost soils. So that actually ends up being a big factor," said Scott Goetz, a study author and NAU professor.
The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
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