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I've read like 10 articles about this so far, and they did not answer the following questions: - How large, proportionally, is the burned region? How long woul

by sarbaz 7y ago

I've read like 10 articles about this so far, and they did not answer the following questions: - How large, proportionally, is the burned region? How long would it theoretically take for the whole thing to burn down at this rate? - How large, proportionally is the burned region in Siberia? How long has the Siberian fire been burning, how long would it take for everything to burn down, etc. - I've seen the 20% of the worlds oxygen stat a bunch. But how significant is this fire in affecting that? Wouldn't we expect the Siberian fire to have a larger effect because it covers a thousand times more area? - Can anyone explain the tipping-point business? How can a series of local fires cause a global collapse? Especially considering that this is neither the first nor the biggest fire? - Do these fires burn themselves out? How do they end?

sarbaz 7y ago
> - Can anyone explain the tipping-point business? How can a series of local fires cause a global collapse? Especially considering that this is neither the first nor the biggest fire? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_savannas_of_North_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_savannas_of_Nort... seems to suggest that specifically burned areas of rainforest turn into savannah. But a lack of fire will cause a reversion to rainforest.
NeedMoreTea 7y ago
The best lay explanation of the tipping point business I saw recently was this Economist piece: https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/08/01/the-amazon-is-approaching-an-irreversible-tipping-point https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/08/01/the-amazon-is-... In short beyond a certain point the local climate becomes unsuited to the flora, further encouraging deforestation and changing the climate, which becomes more prone to drought. Meanwhile the evaporative cooling from the shrinking expanse of trees declines, changing the climate and encouraging drought. It becomes a reinforcing effect.
lucianomt 7y ago
The "20% of the world's oxygen" claim is unfounded. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2019/08/23/as-the-amazon-fires-spread-so-did-this-unfounded-statistic/#1fe26c7a1ea9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2019/08/23/as-the... As the professor states in his tweets, there are legitimate reasons to avoid deforestation ("for climate, for biodiversity, for indigenous communities"). Oxygen supply is not one of them.

by sarbaz 7y ago

sarbaz 7y ago

> - Can anyone explain the tipping-point business? How can a series of local fires cause a global collapse? Especially considering that this is neither the first nor the biggest fire? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_savannas_of_North_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_savannas_of_Nort... seems to suggest that specifically burned areas of rainforest turn into savannah. But a lack of fire will cause a reversion to rainforest.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago

The best lay explanation of the tipping point business I saw recently was this Economist piece: https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/08/01/the-amazon-is-approaching-an-irreversible-tipping-point https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/08/01/the-amazon-is-... In short beyond a certain point the local climate becomes unsuited to the flora, further encouraging deforestation and changing the climate, which becomes more prone to drought. Meanwhile the evaporative cooling from the shrinking expanse of trees declines, changing the climate and encouraging drought. It becomes a reinforcing effect.

lucianomt 7y ago

The "20% of the world's oxygen" claim is unfounded. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2019/08/23/as-the-amazon-fires-spread-so-did-this-unfounded-statistic/#1fe26c7a1ea9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2019/08/23/as-the... As the professor states in his tweets, there are legitimate reasons to avoid deforestation ("for climate, for biodiversity, for indigenous communities"). Oxygen supply is not one of them.