TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

U.S. Wildfires Spew Global Warming Gas

ADVERTISEMENT

By SETH BORENSTEIN, The Associated Press

Published: November 1, 2007

Updated: 11/01/2007 12:55 am

WASHINGTON - In one week, Southern California's wildfires spewed as much carbon dioxide - the primary global warming gas - as the state's power plants and vehicles do in a week, scientists say.

A new study by two Colorado researchers shows that U.S. wildfires pump a significant amount of the greenhouse gas into the air each year, more than Pennsylvania does. It raises questions about how useful it is to plant trees to offset rising carbon dioxide emissions and soothe environmental consciences.

The California wildfires erupted as the study was about to be published, so researchers calculated how much carbon dioxide was likely to come from the blazes from Oct. 19 to 26. It's a lot: 8.7 million tons. That's more than Vermont produces in a year. It's also more than the 6 million tons estimated by California's air control agency, which using a different calculation method.

On average, U.S. wildfires yearly pump 322 million tons of carbon dioxide, about 5 percent of what the nation emits burning fossil fuels, such as gasoline and coal, says the study published online Thursday in the journal Carbon Balance and Management.

'It is quite a big chunk,' said study co-author Jason Neff of the University of Colorado. 'It's nothing compared to our fossil fuels burning.'

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT