<p>The California Air Resources board posted <a href="https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/ca_wildfire_preliminary_co2_emissions_estimates.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this PDF</a> that includes emission estimates up to 2017, which were 37.1 million metric tons. If anyone is interested in related info, the search phrase I used was, "CO<sub>2</sub> estimates for california wildfires".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-15T18:23:46.610Z
2020-03-05T12:24:36.033Z
2020-03-05T12:24:36.033Z
BillDOe
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/data/data.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">California Air Resources Board</a>, in 2016 (the most recent year for which figures appear to available) California's total greenhouse gas emissions were 430 million metric tons CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent, of which 83% were actual CO<sub>2</sub>. </p>

<p>In view of a record-breaking string of wildfires in California this year, I am wondering how significant the emission of greenhouse gases from such fires is, but I am having trouble finding relevant data on the internet. What I did find is a <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/content/chart-daily-co2-emissions-california-wildfires" rel="nofollow noreferrer">chart of <em>daily</em> CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</a> during large wildfires earlier this year, which appears to indicate up to an <em>additional</em> 1.5 million metric tons of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted per day. </p>

<p>This <em>suggests</em> that in 2018, the total amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted by wildfires in California <em>might</em> be in the 40 to 50 million metric ton range, or a sizeable portion of California's overall greenhouse gas emissions at around 10 percent. However, this is just a back-of-the-envelope guesstimate (my assumption: 40 to 50 days of major wildfires, at one million metric tons of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent per day), which may be completely flawed.</p>

<p>Are there any <em>reliable</em> (or at minimum, more carefully reasoned) estimates for CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from California wildfires, in metric tons per annum? Useful numbers would be estimates for 2018, some other recent year, or for an average year.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-14T00:18:08.667Z
I'm confused. You're asking what the estimates are for CO2 emission from the CA wildfires but then provide citations. Are you asking whether or not it's significant?
BillDOe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-14T00:36:56.640Z
I am looking for the *annual* emissions from wildfires in California (e.g. for this year, or an average year). I will edit to make that clearer. I am trying to get an idea of whether increased wildfire activity is likely to interfere with California's greenhouse gas emission targets.
njuffa
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2018-11-14T06:55:13.770Z
the release of CO2 from a forrest fire will be removed by the regrowth of the area over time to a large degree.
trond hansen
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2018-11-14T07:17:37.683Z
@trond hansen If an answer would incorporate that information, resulting in estimates for an annual net change, that would be icing on the cake. I suspect regrowth would be less than current burn losses due to expected drier climatic conditions in the foreseeable future. Also, not all sources of CO₂ in these wildfires are burning California vegetation (e.g. lumber in structures).
njuffa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-14T21:18:13.393Z
@BillDOe I appreciate the effort but I have no idea what I would do with the results. We have a number of 430 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent according to CA government statistics. How many million metric tons p.a. do wildfires add? For my guesstimate I simply assumed 40-50 days of major fires at 1 million metric tons per day (suggested by the graph I linked). My methodology may be completely flawed.
njuffa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-14T22:37:58.243Z
Will you count the "slash and burn" agriculture that is commonly used around the world ? I understand accidental burning in coal mines, specifically China, produces an immense amount of CO2 . but the UN IPCC says it does not  count toward GW.
blacksmith37
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-14T23:13:01.827Z
@blacksmith37 To my knowledge, there is no slash & burn agriculture in California. My question is specifically about California. California is sticking to the Paris climate accord, and has challenging goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The role of electricity generation, use of fossil-fueled powered automobiles etc in this is well understood. What I am trying to get an idea about is what the contribution from wildfires is: minor and can be neglected, or reasonably significant and needs to be addressed. Wildfires are often triggered by human activity, e.g. issues with electrical lines
njuffa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-15T17:58:52.823Z
I did a back-of-the-envelope type calculation and using the uppermost estimates you cite, the CO2 emitted by the CA wildfires would have contributed between 0.019 - 0.026 ppm to global greenhouse gases depending on whether you use total atmospheric mass or tropospheric mass, respectively. Since most of the greenhouse gas effect occurs in the troposphere, that would seem like the more applicable figure. (Note: this is a repost from an earlier comment in which I got tropospheric and atmospheric reversed.)
BillDOe
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2018-11-15T18:07:01.980Z
@njuffa, is [this](https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/ca_wildfire_preliminary_co2_emissions_estimates.pdf) what you were looking for?
BillDOe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-15T18:18:16.300Z
@BillDOe Yes! The second graph is precisely the data I was looking for. Now I am asking myself why I was unable to find this (weak Google-fu, I guess). If you could write an answer, that would be much appreciated.
njuffa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-15T18:24:38.767Z
Glad I could help.
BillDOe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-15T21:21:24.483Z
Keep in mind that forests (and their loss) are part of the Current Carbon Cycle - and as such their impact _should be_ negligible and transient. The global problem we're having is the extraction of formerly sequestered Carbon in the form of fossil fuels. I wonder why California would include this in their calculations?
rchuso
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-15T21:31:11.487Z
@rchuso I am keeping that in mind. Not all the CO₂ emitted due to fires is from  local vegetation (e.g. wooden structures). Isn't all carbon part of a cycle? The cycle just has different branches with different sequestration periods (corn for bio fuel: one year; trees: fifty years; soil: hundreds of years; corals: tens of thousands of years; coal: millions of years). A *separate* question would be about California carbon sinks, e.g. how fast can California's vegetation bind an additional 40 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted from this year's wildfires?
njuffa
<co2><greenhouse-gases><california><emissions>
Greenhouse gas emissions from wildfires in California
njuffa
# Greenhouse gas emissions from wildfires in California

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-13)

According to the [California Air Resources Board](https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/data/data.htm), in 2016 (the most recent year for which figures appear to available) California's total greenhouse gas emissions were 430 million metric tons CO2 equivalent, of which 83% were actual CO2.

In view of a record-breaking string of wildfires in California this year, I am wondering how significant the emission of greenhouse gases from such fires is, but I am having trouble finding relevant data on the internet. What I did find is a [chart of *daily* CO2 emissions](https://insideclimatenews.org/content/chart-daily-co2-emissions-california-wildfires) during large wildfires earlier this year, which appears to indicate up to an *additional* 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 emitted per day.

This *suggests* that in 2018, the total amount of CO2 emitted by wildfires in California *might* be in the 40 to 50 million metric ton range, or a sizeable portion of California's overall greenhouse gas emissions at around 10 percent. However, this is just a back-of-the-envelope guesstimate (my assumption: 40 to 50 days of major wildfires, at one million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per day), which may be completely flawed.

Are there any *reliable* (or at minimum, more carefully reasoned) estimates for CO2 emissions from California wildfires, in metric tons per annum? Useful numbers would be estimates for 2018, some other recent year, or for an average year.

**Tags:** co2, greenhouse-gases, california, emissions

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm confused. You're asking what the estimates are for CO2 emission from the CA wildfires but then provide citations. Are you asking whether or not it's significant?  
> **username_0**: I am looking for the *annual* emissions from wildfires in California (e.g. for this year, or an average year). I will edit to make that clearer. I am trying to get an idea of whether increased wildfire activity is likely to interfere with California's greenhouse gas emission targets.  
> **username_2**: the release of CO2 from a forrest fire will be removed by the regrowth of the area over time to a large degree.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 If an answer would incorporate that information, resulting in estimates for an annual net change, that would be icing on the cake. I suspect regrowth would be less than current burn losses due to expected drier climatic conditions in the foreseeable future. Also, not all sources of CO₂ in these wildfires are burning California vegetation (e.g. lumber in structures).  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I appreciate the effort but I have no idea what I would do with the results. We have a number of 430 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent according to CA government statistics. How many million metric tons p.a. do wildfires add? For my guesstimate I simply assumed 40-50 days of major fires at 1 million metric tons per day (suggested by the graph I linked). My methodology may be completely flawed.  
> **username_3**: Will you count the "slash and burn" agriculture that is commonly used around the world ? I understand accidental burning in coal mines, specifically China, produces an immense amount of CO2 . but the UN IPCC says it does not  count toward GW.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 To my knowledge, there is no slash & burn agriculture in California. My question is specifically about California. California is sticking to the Paris climate accord, and has challenging goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases. The role of electricity generation, use of fossil-fueled powered automobiles etc in this is well understood. What I am trying to get an idea about is what the contribution from wildfires is: minor and can be neglected, or reasonably significant and needs to be addressed. Wildfires are often triggered by human activity, e.g. issues with electrical lines  
> **username_1**: I did a back-of-the-envelope type calculation and using the uppermost estimates you cite, the CO2 emitted by the CA wildfires would have contributed between 0.019 - 0.026 ppm to global greenhouse gases depending on whether you use total atmospheric mass or tropospheric mass, respectively. Since most of the greenhouse gas effect occurs in the troposphere, that would seem like the more applicable figure. (Note: this is a repost from an earlier comment in which I got tropospheric and atmospheric reversed.)  
> **username_1**: @username_0, is [this](https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/ca_wildfire_preliminary_co2_emissions_estimates.pdf) what you were looking for?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Yes! The second graph is precisely the data I was looking for. Now I am asking myself why I was unable to find this (weak Google-fu, I guess). If you could write an answer, that would be much appreciated.  
> **username_1**: Glad I could help.  
> **username_4**: Keep in mind that forests (and their loss) are part of the Current Carbon Cycle - and as such their impact _should be_ negligible and transient. The global problem we're having is the extraction of formerly sequestered Carbon in the form of fossil fuels. I wonder why California would include this in their calculations?  
> **username_0**: @username_4 I am keeping that in mind. Not all the CO₂ emitted due to fires is from  local vegetation (e.g. wooden structures). Isn't all carbon part of a cycle? The cycle just has different branches with different sequestration periods (corn for bio fuel: one year; trees: fifty years; soil: hundreds of years; corals: tens of thousands of years; coal: millions of years). A *separate* question would be about California carbon sinks, e.g. how fast can California's vegetation bind an additional 40 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted from this year's wildfires?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-15. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The California Air Resources board posted [this PDF](https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/inventory/pubs/ca_wildfire_preliminary_co2_emissions_estimates.pdf) that includes emission estimates up to 2017, which were 37.1 million metric tons. If anyone is interested in related info, the search phrase I used was, "CO2 estimates for california wildfires".


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