The rates of forest fires are increasing year after year, amidst the worsening global climate crisis, which in turn leads to habitat destruction and harm to biodiversity; as is well known, forests are a fertile environment for biodiversity.

The damage extends to humans, their food, and their medicine. Therefore, researchers and scientists are focusing their efforts on studying forest ecosystems thoroughly to expand our understanding of them, which helps decision-makers take more effective actions to protect and enhance forests.

To the past!

Humans turn to the past to understand the present and take precautions for the future; climate scientists are particularly interested in the past. In this regard, a research group from Oregon State University in the United States conducted a study examining wildfire activity during the last Ice Age, which witnessed several periods of abrupt climate change. They published their results in the journal Nature on January 1, 2024.

Examination

Scientists obtained samples of ice cores accumulated in Antarctica over tens to hundreds of thousands of years. This ice contains bubbles of ancient air that preserve atmospheric gases from those historical periods. After examining and determining the gas ratios in these bubbles, scientists use this information to construct records of Earth's climate.

Researchers specifically focused on methane to determine its source, especially with its sudden increase during the last Ice Age. Methane is one of the greenhouse gases, and its warming potential is 80 times that of carbon dioxide.

Where did the methane come from?

The researchers used "mass spectrometry," a technique for analyzing the components of a substance. In the study, they utilized this technique to measure the isotopic composition of methane, thereby identifying the source of this gas in the samples. They discovered that wildfires were the source of the increased methane levels in the atmosphere.

Indeed, previous studies have found sudden climate changes during the last Ice Age, but this study adds that wildfires were widespread during those sudden climate changes. This, in turn, expands our understanding of past climates, contributes to building more accurate climate records, and enhances the scientific information and data available about the crisis our planet is facing today.