Fires’ effect on warming reconsidered
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Climatologists have worried for years that forest fires would worsen global warming by adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, but a new study says that some fires could have the opposite effect
Fires in northern forests release greenhouse gases that contribute to climate warming. But they also change the forest canopy so that more sunlight is reflected back into space for decades, earth scientist James T. Randerson of UC Irvine reported Friday in the journal Science. That cancels the warming effects and may lead to localized cooling, he said.
