Australia’s latest bush fires released far more carbon dioxide in one season than the country’s annual greenhouse gas pollution, according to a government estimate.
An estimated 830 million tons of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere between September and February due to the devastating fires, according to a preliminary estimate by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources released this month, Deutsche press agency (DPA) reported.
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are about 540 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent per year, according to a policy brief published in October by the Australian National University.
But the fire-affected temperate forests are expected to recover over time, generating a significant carbon sink in the coming years, the government department said in the report published this week.
“Climate change impacts, including droughts or more frequent and more intense fires, can affect the ability of forests to recover after fire,” according to the report.
The amount of estimated carbon dioxide released within those six months is more than all countries, except for the top five polluters in the world – China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan.
