How Arctic Fires Are Impacting Earth's Atmosphere
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Wildfires are sweeping across the top of the planet. This summer alone, hundreds of wildfires have burned millions of acres of forest in Alaska, northern Canada and Siberia. Scientists at the University of Alaska's International Arctic Research Center see a link to climate change. As temperatures rise, they say fires are getting bigger, hotter and more frequent. Here to talk about all of this is Nancy Fresco. She is a climate scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Thanks for joining us.
NANCY FRESCO: Thank you very much for having me.
CHANG: So I have to admit when I first heard the Arctic is on fire, I was like, what? I think of ice when I think of the Arctic, not wildfires.
FRESCO: It's true. A lot of people don't realize that we're actually in a forested ecosystem that is about 1 1/2 times as big as the lower 48 states, to give you some perspective.
FRESCO: As a reference, we've had over 2 1/2 million acres burn here in Alaska this summer, and that's about the combined area of Rhode Island and Delaware.
CHANG: OK. So very briefly, can you just explain how wildfires happen in the Arctic? Because, like, say, in California, they happen when temperatures get really, really, really hot. But that doesn't happen in the Arctic.
FRESCO: Well, increasingly, it's happening more and more. We had the hottest July on record up here in Alaska. The city of Anchorage hit 90 degrees for the first time ever.
FRESCO: And that does drive wildfires. It gets dry. It gets hot.
FRESCO: Fires burn naturally here. Some years, we have only a small amount of fire, but those large fire years where Alaska sees more than 2 million acres burning in a summer have become about twice as common in this century compared to in the previous century.
CHANG: And what kind of resources are even available to fight fires up there? Because, you know, this isn't like California, which has this huge population. There are enormous firefighting crews that get dispatched. That doesn't happen, I guess, in the Arctic so much.
FRESCO: Well, it does and it doesn't. Of course, when fires are threatening people's lives, people's property, we have smoke jumpers, we have fire experts who are on it who are out there day and night trying to protect people. However, unlike California, there are a lot of fires up here that are not fought at all. They're classified as limited suppression. That means they're monitored. They're watched. But until and unless they threaten some known resource, they're allowed to burn across thousands, millions of acres.
CHANG: Wow. So if we are seeing bigger and more frequent fires up in the Arctic, what does that mean for the rest of the world?
FRESCO: Well, it's unfortunately not good news. Here, obviously it affects our health. We're inhaling smoke. It puts people's lives and property at risk. But from the point of view of the rest of the world, it's bad news, too, because all those fires release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. When trees burn and when the soils burn, it adds those gases back to the atmosphere. And, of course, that makes climate change even worse on a global scale.
CHANG: So what would you like to see happen up in the Arctic to deal with this problem? What needs to change up there?
FRESCO: Well, unfortunately, it's not something we can deal with on our own. Here, the best we can do is protect people, fight the fires that have to be fought. But the problem is one that we as an entire planet have to deal with because there's no way to fight all the fires here. There's no way to put them out. There's no way to prevent the release of those greenhouse gases unless we slow down climate change globally.
CHANG: That's Nancy Fresco, a climate scientist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Thank you very much for being with us today.
FRESCO: Thank you so much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
Moto wa Arctic unaathiri anga la dunia - AILSA CHANG Moto wa mwaka huu umesababisha maangamizi makubwa katika maeneo ya Alaska, Siberia na kaskazini mwa Canada. Wanasayansi wa Chuo Kikuu cha Alaska International Arctic Research Center wanaona uhusiano na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. Kwa kuongezeka kwa joto, moto unazidi kuwa mkubwa, moto na mara nyingi. Hapa ni kwa ajili ya mazungumzo ya Nancy Fresco. Yeye ni mwanasayansi wa hali ya hewa katika Chuo Kikuu cha Alaska Fairbanks. Asanteni kwa kujiunga nasi. NANCY FRESCO: Asanteni sana kwa kunikaribisha. "Nilikuwa na wasiwasi sana wakati niliposikia kwamba ""Arctic"" ilikuwa ikiwaka moto, lakini niliamua kuifanya." "Nafikiri ya barafu wakati mimi kufikiri ya Arctic, si moto wa misitu. """ FRESCO: Ni kweli. Kwa mfano, kuna eneo la misitu katika eneo la eneo la mimea, ambayo ni mara moja na nusu ya ukubwa wa majimbo 48 ya Marekani. Kwa mujibu wa ripoti ya shirika la habari la AFP, eneo la ekari milioni mbili na nusu la Alaska limewashwa moto, na hilo ni ukubwa wa jimbo la Rhode Island na Delaware pamoja. Chang: Ok. Kwa ufupi, unaweza kuelezea jinsi moto wa mwituni unavyotokea katika eneo la Aktiki? Kwa mfano, kama ilivyo katika California, hali ya hewa ya joto ni ya kawaida. Lakini hilo haliwezi kutokea katika eneo la Aktiki. "Mwanamke: ""Hii ni jambo la kawaida, na linaendelea kutokea." Tulikuwa na Julai yenye joto zaidi kuwahi kurekodiwa hapa Alaska. Anchorage, Marekani, imefikia joto la nyuzi 90 kwa mara ya kwanza "Mfano: ""Mimi ninafanya kazi ya kuharibu moto wa msitu.""" Inakuwa kavu. Inakuwa moto. "Mfano: ""Moto wa kawaida huwaka hapa." Katika miaka ya hivi karibuni, moto mkubwa katika Alaska, ambapo zaidi ya ekari milioni mbili za ardhi huwaka moto kwa majira ya joto, umekuwa mara mbili ya kawaida katika karne hii ikilinganishwa na karne iliyopita. "Mfano: ""Ni aina gani ya vifaa vinavyopatikana ili kuzima moto?""" Kwa sababu, kama unavyojua, California ni jimbo lenye idadi kubwa ya watu. Kuna vikosi vikubwa vya kuzima moto vinavyotumwa. Hii haifanyi kazi kwa urahisi, kwa sababu katika eneo la Arctic, hakuna kitu kama hicho. "Mwanamke: ""Hakika, na hakika, na hakika, na hakika.""" """Wakati moto unakabiliwa na hatari ya kuharibu maisha na mali ya watu, tuna wataalamu wa moto ambao wanahudumu usiku na mchana ili kuwalinda." Hata hivyo, tofauti na California, kuna moto mwingi hapa ambao haupiganiwi kabisa. Zimeorodheshwa kuwa za kukandamiza kwa kiasi kidogo. Hiyo ina maana wao ni kufuatiliwa. Wao ni watched. Lakini mpaka na isipokuwa wanahatarisha rasilimali fulani inayojulikana, wanaruhusiwa kuchoma maelfu, mamilioni ya ekari. Chang: Wow. Kama kuna moto mkubwa na wa mara kwa mara katika eneo la Arctic, ni nini kinachotokea? "Mwanamke: ""Kwa bahati mbaya, hii si habari nzuri." Hapa, ni wazi inaathiri afya yetu. Tunapumua moshi. Inahatarisha uhai na mali za watu. Lakini kwa mtazamo wa ulimwengu wote, ni habari mbaya pia, kwa sababu moto huo wote hutokeza kaboni dioksidi na gesi nyingine za chafu. Wakati miti inapochoma, gesi hiyo huingia angani. Na, bila shaka, hiyo hufanya mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa kuwa mabaya zaidi kwa kiwango cha kimataifa. "Mfano: ""Nini unachotaka kufanya katika eneo la Arctic ili kukabiliana na tatizo hili?""" Ni nini kinachohitaji kubadilishwa huko juu? "Mwanamke: ""Kwa bahati mbaya, hii si jambo ambalo tunaweza kufanya peke yetu." """Hapa, tunaweza kufanya bora ni kuwalinda watu, kuzima moto ambao lazima upigwe." Lakini tatizo ni moja ambayo sisi kama sayari nzima lazima kushughulika na kwa sababu hakuna njia ya kupambana na moto wote hapa. Hakuna njia ya kuwafuta. Hakuna njia ya kuzuia kutolewa kwa gesi hizo za chafu isipokuwa tu kupunguza mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa ulimwenguni. Nancy Fresco, mwanasayansi wa hali ya hewa kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Alaska Asanteni sana kwa kuwa pamoja nasi leo. FRESCO: Asante sana. Transcription: NPR, Copyright: NPR