Fire Management as a Carbon Mitigation Strategy

The document highlights the role of boreal forests in storing two-thirds of global forest carbon and the threat posed by intensifying wildfires. It argues that current fire management in Alaska does not account for carbon emissions and is underfunded relative to its contribution to US fire emissions. Research suggests that increasing spending on fire suppression could cost-effectively reduce fire size and CO2 emissions, costing approximately $12.63 per ton of CO2 averted.

• Boreal forests are critical carbon sinks, containing roughly two-thirds of the world's forest carbon, with most stored belowground in organic soil and permafrost.
• Climate change is increasing the frequency and scale of boreal fires; in Interior Alaska, the average annual burned area rose from 568,520 acres (1940-1999) to 1.4 million acres (2000-2018).
• Unchecked boreal forest fires in North America could release nearly 12 gigatonnes of CO2 by midcentury, representing nearly 3 percent of the remaining allowable emissions to keep global temperature increase to 1.5°C.
• Wildfires cause additional carbon loss by accelerating permafrost thaw, with some estimates suggesting post-fire decomposition emissions are more than four times those from the fire itself.
• Alaska receives less than 4 percent of US federal wildfire management funding annually, despite representing about 20 percent of US land area and half of average annual US fire emissions.
• Increasing spending in Alaska's boreal forests by 1 percent is estimated to reduce average fire size by 0.21 percent.
• Fire management in Alaskan boreal forests is more cost-effective at averting CO2 emissions (~$12.63 per ton) than on-shore wind power (~$23–$26 per ton) or utility-scale solar (~$32–$41 per ton).
• Reducing emissions to historic levels in Alaska would require an average annual investment of approximately $696 million, or $6.96 billion over 10 years.

APA

Phillips, C. A., Rogers, B. M., Fletcher, M., & Frumhoff, P. C. (2022). Fire Management as a Carbon Mitigation Strategy. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/Limiting-Carbon-Emissions-Boreal-Forests-April-2022.pdf

Chicago

Phillips, Carly A., Brendan M. Rogers, Molly Fletcher, and Peter C. Frumhoff. Fire Management as a Carbon Mitigation Strategy. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2022. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/Limiting-Carbon-Emissions-Boreal-Forests-April-2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Phillips |first1=Carly A. |last2=Rogers |first2=Brendan M. |last3=Fletcher |first3=Molly |last4=Frumhoff |first4=Peter C. |title=Fire Management as a Carbon Mitigation Strategy |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=April 2022 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/Limiting-Carbon-Emissions-Boreal-Forests-April-2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{phillips2022fire, author = {Phillips, Carly A. and Rogers, Brendan M. and Fletcher, Molly and Frumhoff, Peter C.}, title = {{Fire Management as a Carbon Mitigation Strategy}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/Limiting-Carbon-Emissions-Boreal-Forests-April-2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }