California has made great strides in curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, posting a 65 million metric ton decline for a 13% drop during 2003 to 2019. Unfortunately, this reduction driven by controls implemented in the electric power generation sector may be canceled by impacts from the 2020 wildfires. The carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from the 2020 blazes are approximately two times higher than California's total GHG emission reductions since 2003.

Numerous intensive wildfires were the second largest source of emissions in the state in 2020, behind only the transportation sector. Some of the carbon release from fires will be balanced by future vegetation regrowth but this will not occur quickly enough to avert highly dangerous levels of increased emissions, temperatures and climate change, according to researchers from the University of Chicago and the University of California Los Angeles.

“Even if long-term regrowth occurs, however, the carbon emissions occurring in the next 15-20 years will make it difficult to reach emission reduction targets needed to avert the increases in mean global temperature advocated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC,” explained the researchers.

The study published in Environmental Pollution also analyzed the economic impacts of wildfire-derived air pollution, revealing that carbon emissions-only damages for California alone are approximately $98.7 million. The financial impact is estimated at $986.9 million for the U.S. and as much as $7 billion globally.