News Excerpt: 

Wildfires have been a natural part of the Arctic’s boreal forest and tundra ecosystems. However, in recent years, their frequency and scale in the regions have increased.

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• Smoke from raging wildfires has once again darkened the skies over the Arctic. According to Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) it is the third time in the past five years that high-intensity fires have erupted in the region. 
• A majority of fires are in Sakha, Russia, where more than 160 wildfires charred nearly 460,000 hectares of land.
• The monthly total carbon emissions from the wildfires are the third highest of the past two decades, at 6.8 megatonnes of carbon, behind  2020 and 2019, which recorded 16.3 and 13.8 megatonnes of carbon respectively.
• Wildfires have been a natural part of the Arctic’s boreal forest or snow forest and tundra (treeless regions) ecosystems. 
• However, in recent years, their frequency and scale in the regions have increased, primarily due to global warming. More worryingly, these blazing wildfires are fueling the climate crisis.

Arctic wildfires become worse

• The Arctic has been warming roughly four times as fast as the world. While the global average temperature has increased by at least 1.1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial levels, the Arctic has become on average around 3 degree warmer than it was in 1980.
• This fast-paced warming has led to more frequent lightning in the Arctic, which has further increased the likelihood of wildfires lightning-sparked fires have more than doubled in Alaska and the Northwest Territories since 1975, according to a 2017 study.
• Thunderstorms occur when there is differential surface heating, so an updraft-downdraft convection can occur. You need a warm moist updraft to get a thunderstorm started, and that is more likely to occur over ice free land than land covered with ice.
• Soaring temperatures have also slowed down the polar jet stream — responsible for circulating air between the mid- and northern latitudes — due to less of a temperature difference between the Arctic and lower latitudes. 
• As a result, the polar jet stream often gets “stuck” in one place, bringing unseasonably warm weather to the region. 
• It also blocks out low-pressure systems, which bring clouds and rainfall, possibly leading to intense heat waves, which can cause more wildfires.
• All three factors — rising temperatures, more frequent lightning and heat waves will most likely worsen in the coming years, thereby causing more wildfires in the Arctic. 
• By 2050, it is estimated that wildfires in the Arctic and around the world could increase by one-third, according to a report by the World Wild Fund.

Arctic wildfires exacerbate global warming

• When wildfires ignite, they burn vegetation and organic matter, releasing the heat trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. 
  • That is why the rising frequency of wildfires around the globe is a matter of concern as they contribute to climate change.
•  In the case of Arctic wildfires, such GHG emissions are not the biggest worry. It is rather the carbon stored underneath the region’s permafrost — any ground that stays frozen for at least two years straight. 
  • Scientists estimate that Arctic permafrost holds around 1,700 billion metric tons of carbon, including methane and CO2. That’s roughly 51 times the amount of carbon the world released as fossil fuel emissions in 2019.
• Wildfires make permafrost more vulnerable to thawing as they destroy upper insulating layers of vegetation and soil. 
  • This can cause ancient organic materials such as dead animals and plants to decompose and release carbon into the atmosphere. 
  • In case a large-scale thawing of Arctic permafrost is triggered, it would be impossible to stop the release of carbon.
• The world will not be able to limit global warming within the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold. Breaching the limit will result in catastrophic and irreversible consequences for the planet.
• Changes in the Arctic impact the entire world, amplifying global risks for everyone. These fires are a warning cry for urgent action.
• Worsening the situation, post-fire permafrost emissions are unmonitored and excluded from climate models, making their impact on climate change unmeasurable.
  • Therefore, there is no way to estimate their contribution to climate change.