Biophysical feedback of global forest fires on surface temperature

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 214
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhihua, Ballantyne, Ashley P, Cooper, L Annie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 15.01.2019; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Albedo; Budgeting; Budgets; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Climate system; Cooling; Cooling effects; Earth surface; Evaporative cooling; Evapotranspiration; Feedback; Forest fires; Forests; Satellite observation; Satellites; Surface temperature; Tropical environment; Tropical environments
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08237-z

The biophysical feedbacks of forest fire on Earth's surface radiative budget remain uncertain at the global scale. Using satellite observations, we show that fire-induced forest loss accounts for about 15% of global forest loss, mostly in northern high latitudes. Forest fire increases surface temperature by 0.15 K (0.12 to 0.19 K) one year following fire in burned area globally. In high-latitudes, the initial positive climate-fire feedback was mainly attributed to reduced evapotranspiration and sustained for approximately 5 years. Over longer-term (> 5 years), increases in albedo dominated the surface radiative budget resulting in a net cooling effect. In tropical regions, fire had a long-term weaker warming effect mainly due to reduced evaporative cooling. Globally, biophysical feedbacks of fire-induced surface warming one year after fire are equivalent to 62% of warming due to annual fire-related CO emissions. Our results suggest that changes in the severity and/or frequency of fire disturbance may have strong impacts on Earth's surface radiative budget and climate, especially at high latitudes.