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Blaming Forest Fires for Global Warming

March 12, 2008 by dave

I was blown away when a friend directed me to this report from the Forest Foundation. They estimated the carbon output of four California forest fires.

Consequently, when the massive amounts of fuel in these forests burned, they released an estimated 9.5 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere just from combustion. That is an average of about 63 tons per acre. However, combustion is only part of the story because dead trees also gradually release CO2 as they decay. CO2 emissions from decay are generally three times greater than emissions from combustion because large quantities of wood and other plant material remain unburned after a forest fire.

Combining combustion and decay emissions, FCEM estimates that these four fires will emit a staggering 38 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fires released one fourth of the gases during combustion, and post-fire decay will release the remainder during the next 100 years, most of it during the next 50 years.

To put these emissions from combustion and decay into perspective, they are equivalent to adding an estimated 7 million more cars onto California’s highways for one year, each spewing tons of greenhouse gases out the tailpipe. Stated another way, this means 50 percent of all cars in California would have to be locked in a garage for one year to make up for the global warming impact of these four wildfires.

Is it just me, or is it extremely funny that an environmental group is calling for humans to thin forests in order to avoid naturally occurring forest fires because they emit greenhouse gases? Haven't they been telling us to leave the forests alone? Aren't lightning caused forest fires a part of Mother Nature's plan for the forest? So, naturally occurring forest fires have been generating greenhouse gases? So, if just 4 fires generate as much as the greenhouse gas output of half of the cars in California for a year, isn't all the talk of carbon credits, hybrid cars, and getting rid of our SUVs just a waste of time? To me, this just provides more evidence that greenhouse gases are naturally occurring and that perhaps the science of global climate change is less settled that Al Gore would suggest. Perhaps we should look at that idea of the sun causing climate change after all.