Largest recorded tundra fire yields scientific surprises

In 2007 the largest recorded tundra fire in the circumpolar arctic released approximately as much carbon into the atmosphere as the tundra has stored in the previous 50 years, say scientists in the July 28 issue of the journal ...

Fire hastens permafrost collapse in Arctic Alaska, study finds

While climate change is the primary driver of permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska, a new analysis of 70 years of data reveals that tundra fires are accelerating that decline, contributing disproportionately to a phenomenon ...

NASA studies how arctic wildfires change the world

Wildfires in the Arctic often burn far away from populated areas, but their impacts are felt around the globe. From field and laboratory work to airborne campaigns and satellites, NASA is studying why boreal forests and tundra ...

Lightning sparking more boreal forest fires

A new NASA-funded study finds that lightning storms were the main driver of recent massive fire years in Alaska and northern Canada, and that these storms are likely to move farther north with climate warming, potentially ...

Fire scars on the alaskan tundra

Nearly ten years ago, the largest recorded tundra fire in the Arctic, known as the Anaktuvuk River fire, was sparked by a lightning strike, burning its way across more than 400 square miles of the North Scope of Alaska. The ...

How wildfires affect climate change—and vice versa

As the 2021 wildfire season begins to unfold, the memories of past seasons linger—in the lungs of people, in the communities and landscapes that burned and in the atmosphere, where greenhouse gases from wildfires continue ...

How fires are changing the tundra's face

Climate change takes a heavy toll on the tundra, increasing the probability of extreme droughts. As a result, the frequency of fires in forests, bogs and even wetlands continues to rise. In addition, the northern areas of ...

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