Siberia Drowning In Smoke; Experts Worried About Continuing Fire Intensity Into August

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The fires burning in Siberia this year continue to be exceptional. First, overwintering zombie fires awoke in spring. Then, during an intense June heat wave with record-breaking temperatures, extreme fires burned across vast swathes of the Siberian Arctic Circle, a polar region atop Earth. Now in August, fires persist. Satellite images show a thick haze over the region, obscuring the verdant land below.

The enduring fires this summer continue the momentous burning in the Arctic Circle over the last two years, compared with the previous 16 years of this modern satellite record. Consider: Fires in the Arctic Circle during 2019 and 2020 have emitted more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the previous 16 years combined.

These early August fires are similar in intensity to those in 2019, according to Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. Such late-season burning is problematic because it shows the fire season in the far north could be growing longer, explained Jessica McCarty, an Arctic fire researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Miami University. "As it keeps progressing into August it's more worrisome and more troubling," McCarty said.

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Fire intensity in the Arctic Circle in 2019 and 2020 versus previous years.
Image: eu copernicus

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https://mashable.com/article/fires-arctic-circle-siberia-2020/