Climate Adds Fuel To Asian Wildfire Emissions (Science Daily)

A good review of the wild fires, their impact of local and global emissions in Asia, and the possible impact of Climate on these fires. This article is published on April 30th, 2009, in Science Daily.

A team of NASA-sponsored researchers have used satellites to make the first series of estimates of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted from these fires -- both wildfires and fires started by people -- in Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo, and Papua New Guinea. They are now working to understand how climate influences the spread and intensity of the fires.

They used the carbon monoxide detecting Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite -- as well as 1997-2006 fire data and research computer models -- to screen for and differentiate between carbon emissions from deforestation versus general emissions. Carbon monoxide is a good indicator of the occurrence of fire, and the amounts of carbon monoxide in fire emissions are related to the amount of carbon dioxide.

Also see

• Global Palm Oil Demand Fueling Deforestation
• Can "Sustainable" Palm Slow Deforestation?
• Amazon Forest Clearing for Sugarcane Production
• Indonesia's Fire & Haze - Cost of Catastrophes
• Biofuels could fuel rainforest destruction
• The cost of Biofuel boom is destroying the Indonesian forests
• In Search of Rainforests' El Dorado