Forest fires blazing a trail of carbon emissions, report warns

A new report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences paints a worrying picture of the growing impact of forest fires on global carbon emissions. The blue book, released on Thursday, assesses the carbon emissions from forest fires over the past 22 years and highlights the increasing threat posed by extreme wildfires.

According to the report, an average of 46.95 million hectares of forest land were burned every year between 2001 and 2022, resulting in an annual release of 1.54 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The report identifies extreme wildfires as a major contributor to this alarming trend. This year's devastating fires in Canada alone emitted over 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide — exceeding the total emissions from forest fires in the entire North American country over the past 22 years.

While China's forest area accounts for only 5.4 percent of the global total, its carbon emissions from forest fires remain significantly lower than the global average, representing just 0.65 percent of the total. Moreover, the report found a clear downward trend in China's forest fire emissions since 2001, with annual emissions now hovering around 10 million tons.

Despite this positive development, the report emphasizes the need for further action to prevent extreme forest fires and calls for increased international cooperation to address carbon emissions from forest fires and mitigate the effects of global climate change.