Wildfires pollute waterways and could affect their ability to sequester carbon, recent University of British Columbia research shows.
Wildfires pollute waterways and could affect their ability to sequester carbon, recent University of British Columbia research shows.
Dr. Brian Hunt, professor in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF), and Emily Brown, IOF research scientist, discuss how wildfires affect our waters and what this means in a changing climate.
What Did You Find About How Fire Affects Water?
BH: We focused on the mighty Fraser River basin. When forests burn, they release ash, soil particles and chemicals into the environment. In a recent study which analyzed water quality and wildfire data, we were able to link increases in the concentrations of compounds like arsenic and lead, as well as nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to fires which had burned within the river’s basin months prior.
Using monitoring data collected by Environment Canada over the last 20 years, we calculated that up to 16.3 per cent of the variation in water quality could be attributed to wildfires. While that number might seem small, the Fraser River system is large with a lot of natural variation, so being able to attribute that much change to a singular source is surprising.
Read more at University of British Columbia
