Analysis of Fire Scars Spatiotemporal Distribution and Carbon Emission in the Southeast Siberia Permafrost Degradation Area

Abstract

Affected by climate change and other factors, global fires occur frequently, and the fire burning area in the high latitude permafrost region with low temperature is gradually expanding. The occurrence of fire will cause a large amount of carbon to be released into the air, which will further exacerbate global climate change. Through the fourth edition of the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED), this paper analyzes the burning area and carbon emissions in the permafrost region of southeast Siberia from 1997 to 2020. The results show that the global carbon emissions from fires are mainly grassland and shrub fires, agricultural waste burning, northern forest fires, and tropical forest deforestation and degradation. The changes of grassland and shrub fires are relatively stable, and the burning area of agricultural waste has decreased, while the northern forest fires, especially in the northern North America and the Siberian permafrost region, have increased and increased rapidly in recent years. Further analysis of southeast Siberia shows that the fire burning area in southeast Siberia is mainly concentrated in spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November), of which the fire burning area in spring (March to May) is the largest, and the fire burning area in spring is 3.5 times of that in autumn. The gradually rising air temperature and gradually thawing carbon will become an important driving force of north forest fires. The occurrence of fire will further form positive feedback on climate change by affecting soil microorganism and soil structure, etc. Therefore, for sensitive areas such as southeast Siberia permafrost degradation area, targeted fire warning and management mechanisms need to be established to effectively reduce the risk of wildfire.