Zijing Forum of Global Change Science, the 409th Session

Topic: The Impact of Wildfire on Land Carbon Cycle and Its Feedback on Climate

Time: 15: 00-16: 30, June 20, 2023 (Tuesday)

Venue: S818, Mong Man Wai Technology Building, Tsinghua University

Speaker: Wu Chao, the University of Utah

Profile of the Speaker:

Wu Chao, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah in the United States, was awarded a doctorate jointly by Tsinghua University and the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom in 2019, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University from 2019 to 2021. His research focuses on terrestrial biogeochemical processes and simulation, including ecosystem disturbance (such as wildfire), interaction and feedback between vegetation and climate system, biogeochemical processes of elements such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and the impact of climate risks on the mitigation potential of terrestrial ecosystems and human health. Relevant research results have been published in authoritative international journals such as Nature Geoscience, PNAS, One Earth, Science, etc. In 2021, he won the China Paper Award of Cell Press.

Introduction to the Lecture:

Wildfire is an important climate-driven disturbance factor in terrestrial ecosystem, and it is also affected by human activities (such as man-made fire source and fire extinguishing). The temporal and spatial changes of carbon dioxide released by fires affect the global carbon cycle and have a feedback effect on the climate system. Forests, which are rich in biodiversity, are considered as the main carbon sinks at present, and have the potential to alleviate sustainable climate change through carbon sequestration. However, climate change risks (such as wildfires, droughts, pests and diseases) may endanger forest health in many areas and thus affect their potential to provide such climate mitigation functions. The speaker will focus on his research work in wildfire simulation, terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle and climate feedback, and the impact of climate risk on forest climate change mitigation potential.

Sponsors: Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University

Global Change Research Institute, Tsinghua University

Key Laboratory of Numerical Simulation of Earth System, Ministry of Education

Ministry of Education (MOE) Ecological Field Station for East Asian Migratory Birds