Estimating the economic value of carbon losses from wildfires using publicly available data sources: Eagle Creek Fire, Oregon 2017

摘要: BackgroundWildfires are increasingly frequent in the Western US and impose a number of costs including from the instantaneous release of carbon when vegetation burns. Carbon released into the atmosphere aggravates climate change while carbon stored in vegetation helps to mitigate climate change. The need for climate change mitigation is becoming more and more urgent as achieving the Paris climate agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C seems ever more challenging. A clear understanding of the role of different carbon sources is required for understanding the degree of progress toward meeting mitigation objectives and assessing the cost and benefits of mitigation policies.ResultsWe present an easily replicable approach to calculate the economic cost from carbon released instantaneously from wildfires at state and county level (US). Our approach is straightforward and relies exclusively …