Study: Forest fires help combat global warming

SCRIPPS HOWARD
The carbon soot of forest fires contributes to global warming, right?
Not necessarily when the fires occur in the northern forests of Alaska, Canada and Siberia, according to a new study published online by the journal Science.
Although the forest fires "release greenhouse gases that contribute to climate warming, inseparable changes in the forest canopy cause more sunlight to be reflected back into space during spring and summer for many decades after a fire," said James Randerson, an associate professor of earth science at the University of California-Irvine and lead author of the study.
"This cooling effect cancels the impact of the greenhouse gases, so the net effect of fire is close to neutral when averaged globally, and in northern regions may lead to slightly colder temperatures."
Randerson said the findings have particular implications for reforestation projects that have been proposed for the northern woods with a goal of sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and slowing climate warming.
"We need to explore all possible ways to reduce accumulation of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere," he said, primarily through increased efficiency of fossil fuels.