Los incendios forestales en el Ártico liberan carbono almacenado durante miles de años

13 de mayo de 2026

Reportado por IA

Los incendios que asolan las regiones árticas y boreales están quemando carbono antiguo en los suelos, liberando mucho más dióxido de carbono de lo que los modelos climáticos habían previsto. Un nuevo estudio de testigos de suelo muestra que algunos incendios están consumiendo materia orgánica de hasta 5.000 años de antigüedad.

Meri Ruppel, del Instituto Meteorológico de Finlandia, dirigió la investigación. Su equipo recolectó testigos de suelo de zonas incendiadas y descubrió que la vegetación superficial suele desencadenar una combustión lenta en las capas más profundas y antiguas. Este proceso libera tanto dióxido de carbono como carbono negro, el cual absorbe la luz solar y acelera el deshielo cuando se deposita sobre el hielo o la nieve.

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