Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023
Abstract The climate impact of extreme boreal fires in 2021 and 2023 has drawn great attention for their record‐high CO2 emissions. However, their climate impact extends beyond carbon. Fires also emit large amounts of reactive nitrogen, which plays a crucial role in the nitrogen and carbon cycles. T...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112396 |
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| author | Qiwen Chen Yuanhong Zhao Bo Zheng Lin Zhang |
| author_facet | Qiwen Chen Yuanhong Zhao Bo Zheng Lin Zhang |
| author_sort | Qiwen Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The climate impact of extreme boreal fires in 2021 and 2023 has drawn great attention for their record‐high CO2 emissions. However, their climate impact extends beyond carbon. Fires also emit large amounts of reactive nitrogen, which plays a crucial role in the nitrogen and carbon cycles. Through top‐down inversion of satellite observations, we estimate that the extreme boreal fires in 2021 and 2023 emitted 2.6 Tg N yr−1 and 4.9 Tg N yr−1 of NH3, respectively, which are comparable to agricultural‐intensive regions, making boreal fires the second‐largest contributor to the global reactive nitrogen budget. Unlike tropical fires, which emit more NOx than NH3, boreal fires are characterized by high NH3 emissions. With global warming likely to increase wildfire frequency, the rising NH3 emissions from boreal fires could have significant implications for the nitrogen and carbon cycles in that nitrogen‐limited region, necessitating their consideration in future climate impact assessments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d86223535c2f4c94afa8a92e6b96b8cc |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-d86223535c2f4c94afa8a92e6b96b8cc2025-08-20T02:58:26ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-02-01524n/an/a10.1029/2024GL112396Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023Qiwen Chen0Yuanhong Zhao1Bo Zheng2Lin Zhang3Frontier Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES) and Physical Oceanography Laboratory Ocean University of China Qingdao ChinaFrontier Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES) and Physical Oceanography Laboratory Ocean University of China Qingdao ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Ecological Remediation and Carbon Sequestration Institute of Environment and Ecology Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School Tsinghua University Shenzhen ChinaLaboratory for Climate and Ocean‐Atmosphere Sciences Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences School of Physics Peking University Beijing ChinaAbstract The climate impact of extreme boreal fires in 2021 and 2023 has drawn great attention for their record‐high CO2 emissions. However, their climate impact extends beyond carbon. Fires also emit large amounts of reactive nitrogen, which plays a crucial role in the nitrogen and carbon cycles. Through top‐down inversion of satellite observations, we estimate that the extreme boreal fires in 2021 and 2023 emitted 2.6 Tg N yr−1 and 4.9 Tg N yr−1 of NH3, respectively, which are comparable to agricultural‐intensive regions, making boreal fires the second‐largest contributor to the global reactive nitrogen budget. Unlike tropical fires, which emit more NOx than NH3, boreal fires are characterized by high NH3 emissions. With global warming likely to increase wildfire frequency, the rising NH3 emissions from boreal fires could have significant implications for the nitrogen and carbon cycles in that nitrogen‐limited region, necessitating their consideration in future climate impact assessments.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112396boreal wildfirereactive nitrogenammonia emissionscarbon‐nitrogen cycle |
| spellingShingle | Qiwen Chen Yuanhong Zhao Bo Zheng Lin Zhang Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023 Geophysical Research Letters boreal wildfire reactive nitrogen ammonia emissions carbon‐nitrogen cycle |
| title | Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023 |
| title_full | Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023 |
| title_fullStr | Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023 |
| title_short | Unexpected High Ammonia Emissions From Boreal Fires in 2021 and 2023 |
| title_sort | unexpected high ammonia emissions from boreal fires in 2021 and 2023 |
| topic | boreal wildfire reactive nitrogen ammonia emissions carbon‐nitrogen cycle |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL112396 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT qiwenchen unexpectedhighammoniaemissionsfromborealfiresin2021and2023 AT yuanhongzhao unexpectedhighammoniaemissionsfromborealfiresin2021and2023 AT bozheng unexpectedhighammoniaemissionsfromborealfiresin2021and2023 AT linzhang unexpectedhighammoniaemissionsfromborealfiresin2021and2023 |