Aquatic Ecosystems Aren’t Immune to Wildfire Impacts, Research Shows – Inside Climate News

Report on the Interaction Between Wildfires and Water

Introduction

Amid an unusual September heat wave, several major wildfires are raging simultaneously out West.

As climate change fuels more severe infernos, a fairly new field of study has emerged to investigate how these blazes are interacting with a substance that would seemingly be immune to their path of destruction: water. Aquatic ecosystems—from tiny ponds to the ocean—could be vulnerable to the same fires that burn through millions of acres of land each year, scientists say.

Hazy Lakes

The majority of wildfires in the U.S. are currently concentrated in California and Nevada, but the smoke that they produce stretches far beyond their points of origin, posing air quality and health threats for individuals across the country.

It turns out this haze can affect lake health, too. Researchers looked at data from more than 1.3 million lakes across North America and found that around 99 percent of them had experienced at least one “smoke day,” where wildfire haze can be seen blanketing the air above them, per year from 2019 to 2021. The majority of these lakes saw more than 30 days of smoke annually, even though many of them were located nowhere near a wildfire.

The study found that these ashy clouds can block sunlight and deposit carbon, nutrients, and toxic metals such as mercury or lead into lake ecosystems, which can alter their chemistry and sometimes fuel algal blooms. A separate study published in May looked specifically at smoke cover over lakes in California—one of the most fiery states in the U.S.—and found similar results.

Booms and Busts

For life at sea, there may be winners and losers as climate change worsens wildfires. In 2017, smoke from one of the largest wildfires in California history billowed across the northeastern Pacific Ocean, infusing the seawater with a variety of chemical compounds and metals. Instead of triggering an ocean massacre, this plume provided “a veritable buffet for marine microbes.” A 2023 study found that the ash fed tiny phytoplankton floating near the surface, effectively fertilizing this region of the ocean. A similar phenomenon occurred in 2019 when smoke from wildfires in Australia triggered algal blooms thousands of miles away.

Marine microbes are crucial for sucking up and storing carbon from the atmosphere. While these tiny critters can help offset a portion of the emissions released from wildfires, some phytoplankton species such as dinoflagellates also produce toxins that can poison fish and crabs—and humans who consume them.

Closer to shore, wildfires could spur toxic ash runoff on beaches or coral reefs. For example, the Lahaina fire in Maui last year torched more than 2,200 urban structures and cars, burning through hazardous materials that can leach into the ocean or coral reefs. Recent tests show that contaminant levels have drastically decreased since the fire, but scientists are still studying the long-term impacts of this type of event on coastal ecosystems.

Conclusion

Researchers note that individual lakes may respond differently to wildfires depending on a number of factors such as their size, depth, and amount of smoke cover. The interaction between wildfires and water has significant implications for both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, highlighting the need for further research and action to mitigate the impacts of wildfires on the environment.

About This Story

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SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 13: Climate Action
• SDG 14: Life Below Water
• SDG 15: Life on Land

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• SDG 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters
• SDG 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
• SDG 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Indicator for SDG 13.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
• Indicator for SDG 14.1: Concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
• Indicator for SDG 15.1: Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type

4. Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: insideclimatenews.org