Graphs Illustrating Wildfires in Canada, Global Temperature, CO2 Level and Global Sea Ice Extent

1) Graph from CBC: After Earth’s hottest week on record, extreme weather surprises everyone — even climate scientists, Jul 14, 2023 

 

2) Graph from Statista about Wildfires in Canada, Jun 27, 2023:

3) Summary: Wild fires have burned at least 10.6 million hectares of land across Canada between Jan 1 and July 15, 2023 (665 million tonnes of CO2):

As of July 15, 2023, wildfires have burned at least 10.6 million hectares — or around 19.2 million acres — of land across Canada since the start of this year, according to the fire agency. The acreage has surpassed the previous annual record from 1989, reported by the National Forest Database.

In 2021, forest fires totaling 4.3 million hectares produced approximately 270 million tonnes of greenhouse gases.  As of July 15, 2023, we have a total about 270 millions tonnes x 10.6/4.3 = approximately 665 million tonnes of CO2 emitted this year (by this date).

4) Some articles relating to wildfires:

a) ABC News: Wildfire smoke live updates: Over 100 million Americans under air quality alerts – The alerts are across the Midwest and into the Northeast, June 30, 2023

b) WashPost: How the Canadian wildfire smoke could shift Americans’ views on climate by Justine McDaniel, June 11, 2023 

The ‘power of direct experience’ can change attitudes on climate change, researchers say. But whether it spurs people to action is less clear.

c) CO2 is not the only greenhouse are emitted by forest fires:

While the vast majority of carbon emitted by wildland fires is released as CO2, CO, and CH4, wildland fire smoke is nonetheless a rich and complex mixture of gases and aerosols.

USDA: Wildland fire emissions, carbon, and climate: Emission factors, 2014

e) NewScientist: Wildfires across Canada have emitted record-breaking amounts of carbon By Alec Luhn, 2 June 2023

Carbon emissions from wildfires in Canada were the highest ever recorded in May, highlighting the growing risk of blazes earlier in the year

Emissions for the month reached 54.8 million tonnes, more than double the carbon emitted by wildfires in any May since estimates began in 2003,

f) FT: Wildfire smoke makes New York air quality worst in the world, June 7, 2023

g) NYT: As Smoke Darkens the Sky, the Future Becomes Clear, June 7, 2023

h) CP: Wildfire season is 10 times worse than normal, will burn for months: officials by Emilie Bergeron and Marie-Eve Martel, Jul 06, 2023 – “Fire activity could remain above normal through July and August across much of the country.”

5) Graph from Guardian: UN says climate change ‘out of control’ after likely hottest week on record, 7 Jul 2023 – After record breaking days on Monday and Tuesday, unofficial analysis shows the world may have seen its hottest seven days in a row

6) Given below is a graph of the Monthly Average CO2 level at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii:

7) Graph showing Global Sea Ice Extent [million km2] by the Arctic Data archive System’s (ADS’s) Visualization Service of Horizontal scale Observations at Polar region (VISHOP)
International Polar and Earth Environmental Research Center (IPERC)
National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR)
Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)
Tokyo, Japan

8) Some webpages created by ClimateSAN about sea level rise and its impacts on human security:

a) Thwaites “Doomsday” Glacier and Related Information (climatasan.org/doomsday )

b) How Climate Change is a Security Threat Multiplier and What Can Be Done?

c) Rising Global Sea Levels and Its Impacts on Human Security.

Note: Short link to this webpage: ClimateSAN.org/wfgt