Sep 29, 2004
Detecting the effect of climate change on Canadian forest fires
by
,
Geophysical Research Letters
- States that the area burned by forest fires in Canada has increased over the past four decades, at the same time as summer season temperatures have warmed
- Uses output from a coupled climate model to demonstrate that human emissions of greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosol have made a detectable contribution to this warming
- Shows that human‐induced climate change has had a detectable influence on the area burned by forest fire in Canada over recent decades
- Concludes that this increase in area burned is likely to have important implications for terrestrial emissions of carbon dioxide and for forest ecosystems