Over 111 million metric tons of CO2 were emitted by wildfires in California for the 2020 year. The transportation sector is the only area to have emitted more carbon dioxide at over 169 million metric tons. While from the outset, that looks pretty bad, you may still wonder, "In actuality, how bad is the wildfire smoke for Climate Change?"

In an interview with the SF Chronical, AQRC Director, Tony Wexler, stated that the wildfire carbon emissions are of almost no concern for him in relation to climate change.

“The carbon in the trees and brush and grasses that’s burning all came from the atmosphere,” Wexler said. “It’s not a net emission of carbon dioxide — it’s basically putting it back where it came from. I don’t consider this to be a serious problem for climate.”

Cars, power plants and other sectors are taking carbon from the earth in the form of fossil fuels that had been buried 50 million years ago and re-introducing it to the atmosphere causing a net positive increase in atmospheric CO2. 

Read the full article from the SF Chronical on the Daily Republic here.