Wildfires in Europe have already torched more than 1 million hectares of forest, the worst since records began in 2006
Emissions from the blazes equal the annual CO₂ output of Portugal or Sweden
Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and Romania among the worst affected nations
Spain alone accounts for 40% of all EU fires, with more than 411,000 hectares burned
Deadly August heatwave in Spain linked to over 1,100 deaths, as scientists warn of firestorms fuelled by climate extremes
Wildfires sweeping across Europe this summer have destroyed more than a million hectares (nearly 2.5 million acres) of forests — the worst season on record since monitoring began in 2006.
The blazes, which are expected to continue for several more weeks, have already surpassed the devastation of 2017, when fires consumed 988,524 hectares.
According to wildfire data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), cited by news agency Associated France Press, more than 1,015,700 hectares have been torched so far — an area larger than Cyprus, an island country in the eastern Mediterranean.
British daily The Guardian reported that the fires have released 37 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of Portugal or Sweden, each with a population of 10 million. “The fires have also broken records for this time of year for nine other air pollutants, including fine particulates known as PM2.5 that experts say make wildfires far more deadly than previously thought,” the article stated.
Several countries have already endured their worst wildfire seasons in nearly two decades, including Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Germany, Bulgaria and Slovakia. Romania has recorded four times its average number of blazes this year, while France has seen more than double its historic mean, with 35,671 hectares burned this year compared with 13,587 hectares on average.
Germany has suffered an unprecedented increase, with 5,351 hectares destroyed — almost eight times its 20-year average of 671 hectares. In Portugal, more than 60,000 hectares have been scorched during the current heatwave.
Spain has been worst hit, with 411,315 hectares burned — accounting for 40 per cent of all European Union fires this year, far above its annual average of 79,570 hectares.
The country’s national meteorological agency Aemet said the 16-day heatwave from August 3 to 18 was the worst on record, with average temperatures 4.6 degrees Celsius higher than normal. Aemet added that the period from August 8 to 17 was the hottest 10 consecutive days in Spain since “at least 1950”.
The Carlos III Health Institute reported that more than 1,100 deaths in Spain were linked to the August heatwave, while 1,060 deaths in July were attributed to excess heat — a 50 per cent rise on the previous year.
“A concentration of heatwaves increased the atmosphere’s thirst and cured these [grass and herbs] and other fuels,” Victor Resco de Dios, a forestry engineer at the University of Lleida told The Guardian. “This has been accompanied by very unstable atmospheric conditions, leading to the occurrence of fire storms.”