Fire Made Arctic Spew, Rather Than Absorb, Carbon

by Christopher Joyce, NPR

The Arctic tundra has been relatively thunderstorm-free for 10,000 years. But conditions are changing in the far north, and in 2007 a lightning strike caused the biggest wildfire ever recorded on the North Slope of Alaska. The tundra is normally a carbon sink, but scientists report in the journal Nature that that single fire released more carbon into the atmosphere than the entire Arctic tundra absorbs every year.

Broadcast Dates

• Morning Edition, July 29, 2011