Climate Change and Wildfires

Of the numerous vicious cycles associated with climate change, perhaps the obvious is the change in albedo, i.e., the degree to which the Earth’s surface reflects the sun’s radiant energy back into space, vs. absorbing it into our atmosphere and oceans.  Ice has a high albedo; sea ice covered with snow reflects as much as 90 percent of the incoming solar radiation.  But as the Earth warms and the ice melts, it becomes liquid water, which has a much lower albedo.  In turn, this heats up the planet more, causing ice to melt at an even faster rate.

Here’s an article on another vicious cycle, one that is quite visible to us Californians: wildfires.  The carbon released from the burning of organic matter (that had previously absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere) adds to the thickness of the “blanket” that is trapping heat around the Earth, and the resultant increase in temperatures dries out the land faster and more thoroughly, thus setting the stage for larger, more frequent (and deadly) fires.

We have the technology to make all this stop, or at least to slow it down significantly.  Will we use it?