Abstract:
Circumboreal peat fires can emit large amounts of carbon and harmful smoke pollution. Of particular concern are degraded peatland fires that burn deep into peat layers and emit up to several thousand years of legacy soil carbon. This not only has important implications for global climate, but the toxic smoke produced from deep peat burning can have severe human health effects. There is concern that climate change enhanced drought will magnify the impacts of boreal peat fires.
This seminar discusses the ecohydrology of boreal peat fires and explores recent modelling advances to estimate the impact of climate change on peat fire carbon emissions. Novel peatland and wildfire management strategies to mitigate this emerging environmental issue will also be discussed.
What is the Joint Oslo Seminar (JOS):
- Atmospheric and climate sciences have a stronghold in Oslo among the four institutions University of Oslo, the Meteorological Institute, CICERO and NILU.
- This joint seminar invites renowned international experts to contribute to an informal series of lectures, meant to create interaction with the Oslo atmospheric and climate science community on recent highlights and analysis in the field.
- Normally seminars will be held on Thursdays (12:15 pm -1pm).