On Thursday, May 26th, GEOG Associate Professor Tatiana Loboda, along with James Hubbard (U.S. Forest Service) and Mike Flannigan (Professor, University of Alberta), was interviewed on The Diane Rehm Show.  The trio discussed the intense fire that has been raging in the boreal region (forests at high northern latitudes) of Alberta, Canada, for nearly a month now.  Nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated at this point. This fire was apparently human-caused and is proving difficult to manage due to the hot, dry weather and abundance of fuel. Dr. Loboda explained that this coniferous forest, which keeps a deep organic layer due to generally colder temperatures, houses much of the Earth's carbon, even more so than tropical forests. Fires in such areas are of particular concern as they tend to increase the level of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, in addition to the burning of fossil fuels.   

To listen to the podcast, please follow this link.