Abstract

Fires emit significant amounts of CO₂ to the atmosphere. These emissions, however, are highly variable in both space and time. Additionally, CO₂ emissions estimates from fires are very uncertain. The combination of high spatial and temporal variability and substantial uncertainty associated with ... Show moreFires emit significant amounts of CO₂ to the atmosphere. These emissions, however, are highly variable in both space and time. Additionally, CO₂ emissions estimates from fires are very uncertain. The combination of high spatial and temporal variability and substantial uncertainty associated with fire CO₂ emissions can be problematic to efforts to develop remote sensing, monitoring, and inverse modeling techniques to quantify carbon fluxes at the continental scale. Policy and carbon management decisions based on atmospheric sampling/modeling techniques must account for the impact of fire CO₂ emissions; a task that may prove very difficult for the foreseeable future. This paper addresses the variability of CO₂ emissions from fires across the US, how these emissions compare to anthropogenic emissions of CO₂ and Net Primary Productivity, and the potential implications for monitoring programs and policy development. Show less