<p>It is unlikely that the Australian fires will produce enough particulates by themselves to induce measurable global dimming, but we can't be sure because the fires are not yet finished and could continue for months. Another thing to remember is that Australia is not the only country to have major wildfires, so it seems probable that the combined effects of all these fires on global dimming may be measurable.</p>

<p>People worried about all the CO2 being poured into the atmosphere by these wildfires
should bear in mind that if the drought is followed by a wet period,the forest will regenerate and recapture an amount of CO2 equivalent to the amount they have released. Major eruptions like Pinatubo release colossal amounts of CO2, but unlike burning forests have no mechanism whereby they can suck most of it back in the fulness of time. They also release vast quantities of dust particles high into the atmosphere, accompanied by large amounts of sulphur dioxide which reflects solar radiation back into space, so that explains the cooling effect such major eruptions have. It usually doesn't last very long.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-04T13:34:43.353Z
https://skepticalscience.com/print.php?r=50 the colossal CO2 emisions from pinatubo was less than 0,2% of the total CO2 emissions in 1991.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-04T14:06:04.210Z
Yes, but there are hundreds of smaller volcanoes around the world all making their little contributions. "Many a mickle maks a muckle" as they say in Scotland. One day well have another Tambora, which will make Pinatubo look like a damp squib.
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-05T00:10:19.173Z
With climate change the assumption that regrowth will take up as much CO2 as released by bushfires cannot be relied on; the potential for enduring changes to vegetation is present. Pinatubo released about a fifth of what Australian fires have so far this season and (rough calculation) would be about 1/600th of current anthropogenic global emissions. Volcanic CO2 is not a significant factor.
Ken Fabian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-04T12:53:32.347Z
2020-01-04T12:53:32.347Z
Michael Walsby
<p>Given the vastness and intensity of the bushfires that have been going on in Australia for weeks now, to the point they are <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/the-bushfires-in-australia-are-so-big-they-re-generating-their-own-weather" rel="nofollow noreferrer">generating their own weather</a> and having an <a href="https://glacierhub.org/2020/01/03/photo-friday-bushfires-in-australia-continue-to-devastate-new-zealand-glaciers/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">impact thousands kilometers away</a> from their origin, an analogy with volcanic eruptions spurred to my mind and I wondered: could the net effect of these bushfires actually be a measurable cooling down of global temperature, as it happened with <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1510/global-effects-of-mount-pinatubo" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mount Pinatubo</a>, at least in the short term?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-04T11:09:29.170Z
may i suggest the one answering this question include global dimming and the result of cleaning up the particulate emissions on global temparature.
trond hansen
<meteorology><climate-change><wildfire>
Could Australia's bushfires aerosols actually decrease global temperature?
Fabio A.
# Could Australia's bushfires aerosols actually decrease global temperature?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-04)

Given the vastness and intensity of the bushfires that have been going on in Australia for weeks now, to the point they are [generating their own weather](https://www.sciencealert.com/the-bushfires-in-australia-are-so-big-they-re-generating-their-own-weather) and having an [impact thousands kilometers away](https://glacierhub.org/2020/01/03/photo-friday-bushfires-in-australia-continue-to-devastate-new-zealand-glaciers/) from their origin, an analogy with volcanic eruptions spurred to my mind and I wondered: could the net effect of these bushfires actually be a measurable cooling down of global temperature, as it happened with [Mount Pinatubo](https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1510/global-effects-of-mount-pinatubo), at least in the short term?

**Tags:** meteorology, climate-change, wildfire

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: may i suggest the one answering this question include global dimming and the result of cleaning up the particulate emissions on global temparature.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-01-04. Score: -2

It is unlikely that the Australian fires will produce enough particulates by themselves to induce measurable global dimming, but we can't be sure because the fires are not yet finished and could continue for months. Another thing to remember is that Australia is not the only country to have major wildfires, so it seems probable that the combined effects of all these fires on global dimming may be measurable.

People worried about all the CO2 being poured into the atmosphere by these wildfires
should bear in mind that if the drought is followed by a wet period,the forest will regenerate and recapture an amount of CO2 equivalent to the amount they have released. Major eruptions like Pinatubo release colossal amounts of CO2, but unlike burning forests have no mechanism whereby they can suck most of it back in the fulness of time. They also release vast quantities of dust particles high into the atmosphere, accompanied by large amounts of sulphur dioxide which reflects solar radiation back into space, so that explains the cooling effect such major eruptions have. It usually doesn't last very long.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: https://skepticalscience.com/print.php?r=50 the colossal CO2 emisions from pinatubo was less than 0,2% of the total CO2 emissions in 1991.  
> **username_2**: Yes, but there are hundreds of smaller volcanoes around the world all making their little contributions. "Many a mickle maks a muckle" as they say in Scotland. One day well have another Tambora, which will make Pinatubo look like a damp squib.  
> **username_3**: With climate change the assumption that regrowth will take up as much CO2 as released by bushfires cannot be relied on; the potential for enduring changes to vegetation is present. Pinatubo released about a fifth of what Australian fires have so far this season and (rough calculation) would be about 1/600th of current anthropogenic global emissions. Volcanic CO2 is not a significant factor.  

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