Hat Tip to DESIGNSNAKE for seeding this story.
The largest fire in Alaska this year, has turned out to be the tundra .... the largest tundra fire ever seen.
Fire on the North Slope of Alaska
Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA
September 25, when the MODIS on NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image.
Over the roughly two-month period, the fire burned about 222,500 acres. Places where MODIS detected active fire on this day are outlined in red. The burned area makes a dark brown, nearly rectangular scar between the Nanushuk and Itkillik Rivers. These rivers flow north and join the Colville River before emptying into the Arctic Ocean via Harrison Bay.
So, for those scoring at home, some highlights of what's burnt this year :
Most of Griffith Park in L.A.
A swamp in south Georgia the size of Rhode Island.
Greece ... The fires in Greece burnt more acres than all of Europe has lost in the last 10 years.
Milford Flat, Utah ..... This fire burnt 300,000 acres in 3 days, on it's way to being the largest in state history.
South Africa ..... 1032 sq miles, 28 dead 100's homeless.
Now we learn that 344 square miles of tundra has been blackened, that's 344 square miles of permafrost that will absorb more solar energy until nature repairs the burn. My guess .... this patch of tundra will be some of the most studied ever.
The Climate Train Wreck in the Arctic continues, with another feed back into the system. In the last month we have learned that there are :
Lakes on the permafrost boiling from seeping methane .
1,000,000 sq. km. of ice melted this year over last year.
The largest tundra fire ever seen has been burning in Alaska.
The Anaktuvuk River Fire began with a lightning strike July 16 during an unusually warm, dry summer that has nurtured the flames.
Largest recorded tundra fire burning on Slope