California's catastrophic wildfires in 2020 put twice as much greenhouse gas emissions into the air as the state's reductions in those same gases over nearly 20 years – erasing gains going back to 2003, according to a new study.
It's part of a positive feedback loop that's very negative, say the researchers.
"Climate change is creating conditions conducive to larger wildfires. And the wildfires are adding to the greenhouse gases that cause climate change," said lead author Michael Jerrett, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The historic megafires of 2020 released an estimated 127 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air. That compares to the 65 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions California was able to reduce between 2003 and 2019, the study, published in this month's edition of the journal Environmental Pollution, showed. READ MORE...
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