World on fire

"Megafires: The Global Threat" is a two-part Franco-American documentary from 2020 about the recent wave of forest fires in North America, but also other parts of the world. I just finished watching the first part, and it frankly made me feel almost depressed! Yes, it´s man-made climate change all over again.

The number and intensity of forest fires is growing by the year, fires can start even in December (so there is no distinct "forest fire season" anymore), and is only going to get worse for various reasons connected to climate change. For instance, snow is thawing rapidly, making it difficult for trees to absorb the water before it leaves the forest eco-system. At the same time, with each degree of warming, trees need more water, not less (about 20% more). The drought makes the trees less able to defend themselves against attacks from insects such as the ash borer, and dead trees of course make excellent fuel for forest fires...

In 1910, an enormous forest fire known as the Big Burn affected four US states, making the US authorities decide that forest fires were a virtual "public enemy number one". From around 1935 to 1985, American fire fighters *did* succesfully stop almost every forest fire in the country. However, from 1985 onwards, the number of forest fires have been rising very steeply. The reason, according to the scientists interviewed, is that the lack of forest fires have made the forest more dense, with more trees and vegetation in general, and hence more "fuel" once a fire really gets started. Before the 1930´s, fires in effect regulated the size and thickness of the forests, being part of the natural system. The succesful suppression of forest fires turned out to be a pyrrhic victory, especially with global warming added to the mix. 

And then there´s the peat...

The documenatry claims that the peat deposits contain 25% of the world´s carbon. More forest fires means more peat will burn, especially in areas such as Alaska, Siberia or Scandinavia, where global warming is more rapid than in the rest of the world. Peat fires can go on for months without being detected, since they can take place literally underground. "The earth itself is on fire". The team goes to Indonesia, where a scientist tells them that a local peat fire wasn´t stopped by three heavy rainfalls. 

Still, the most scary part of "Megafires" was the - wait for it - pyrocumulonimbus, a kind of monster cloud that forms during really severe forest fires and creates its own local weather system, complete with thunderstorms. The cloud can therefore spread the wildfire even further, almost as if the fire had a bizarre life of its own! 

Is this how the world ends, I wonder?

In the second part of this production (which I haven´t seen yet), we will supposedly learn about the solutions to the above predicament. Well, I certainly hope there are some, because from where I stand, it does not look good...