- Wildfires from 2021 emitted a record-breaking amount of carbon dioxide: nearly half a gigaton of carbon (1.76 billion tons) was released from burning forests in North America, Europe and Asia. That's 150% higher than the annual mean of CO2 released between 2000 and 2020. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade0805?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D55525225243621864583769035263723336929%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1678127612 8 comments science