Wildfires Are Undoing Decades of Carbon Capture in the Arctic

A recent study from the Woodwell Climate Research Center [41.6°N, 70.5°W] has revealed a sobering truth: Wildfires are erasing the Arctic and boreal forests’ ability to act as carbon sinks. While these northern forests have long absorbed more carbon than they release, the study finds that wildfires — growing larger, more frequent, and more intense due to climate change — are offsetting these gains, accelerating the very warming they once helped to slow.

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Why Boreal Forests Matter for Carbon Storage

The vast forests of Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia form one of the planet’s most important carbon reservoirs. These boreal and Arctic forests store nearly twice as much carbon as tropical rainforests, locking away CO₂ in thick soils, mosses, and slow-growing trees.

However, this fragile carbon balance is now tilting in the wrong direction. Rising temperatures are fueling extreme wildfires, which:

• Burn vast areas of forest faster than they can recover.
• Release centuries of stored carbon into the atmosphere.
• Destroy the organic soil layers that usually trap carbon for millennia.

The result? A shift from carbon storage to carbon release, making it harder to stabilise the planet’s climate.

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Key Findings: How Wildfires Are Changing the Arctic’s Role

The study examined 41 years of atmospheric CO₂ data and found:

• Wildfire emissions in the Arctic-boreal zone have increased dramatically, particularly in the last two decades.
• Some years see net carbon loss — meaning the region is emitting more CO₂ than it absorbs.
• The worst-affected areas include Siberia, Canada, and Alaska, where warming is outpacing the global average.

While the Arctic-boreal region still absorbs more carbon than it emits on average, the data shows that its ability to act as a reliable carbon sink is weakening — a trend that could lead to a tipping point where the region permanently shifts to being a net carbon source.

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What This Means for the Future

This research serves as a stark warning—protecting northern forests from wildfire damage is no longer just about conservation; it’s a critical part of the global fight against climate change.

• Fire management strategies must evolve to prevent more carbon loss.
• Peatlands and permafrost need urgent protection to prevent runaway emissions.
• Reforestation alone won’t be enough—without wildfire control, new trees won’t survive long enough to store carbon effectively.

With temperatures rising and wildfires intensifying, the once-dependable Arctic carbon sink is at risk of becoming a carbon bomb. The question now is whether governments will act in time to stop this feedback loop before it’s too late.

Source

Wildfires Offset the Increasing but Spatially Heterogeneous Arctic–Boreal CO₂ Uptake, Nature Climate Change, 2025-03-17