02.19.2021

GMAO ANIMATION
Was 2020 an exceptional year for fires in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics?

Comparison with estimates of historical (2003 through 2019) fire emissions indicated that 2020 was an exceptional year in terms of the total amount of pyrogenic carbon released in the atmosphere by wildfires in Siberia and the Western United States.

The animation depicts smoke from the 2020 fires in Siberia and the Western United States. Also shown are time progressions of the 2020 and historical (individual years, starting 2003 through 2019) cumulative emissions of CO2 from fires in the two regions. Read More.