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Last year, in 2023, Europe, the Middle East and Africa collectively experienced their worst wildfires since 2000, according to a report published by European Union Commission’s Joint Research Centre
According to the Forest Fires 2023 report, nearly 500,000 hectares of natural land which is equivalent to about half the size of the island of Cyprus experienced wildfires during the year.
The report unequivocally asserted that the spate in instances of wildfires are a clear impact of climate change. It noted that the year also saw ‘megafires’, impossible to bring under control with conventional firefighting methods.
“One of them, near the city of Alexandroupolis in the Greek region of East Macedonia and Thrace, was the largest single wildfire recorded in the EU since 2000, when the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) started tracking,” it stated.
The report found that the fires have become more intense and impact wider and new areas owing to climate change. It also revealed that the fire season in Europe now extended beyond traditional summer months.
The severity of wildfires is making aerial and ground level firefighting more challenging, in EU and across the globe, it added.
According to the data, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Morocco, Norway and Switzerland reported more than average wildfires from its 2013-22 average.
Meanwhile, Cyprus, Norway and Switzerland reported the highest with 126 per cent, 278 per cent and 146 per cent of above average areas burnt.
It observed that in 2023, about 41 per cent of the overall impacted area in the EU affected ‘Natura 2000’ network, EU’s biodiversity reservoir crucial for its conservation and claimed that these essential ecosystems will take years to recover.
In Cyprus it noted that aggressive fire activity was experienced followed by a prolonged period of heatwave conditions that continued for almost three weeks during mid-July. The temperatures soared to 44°C to 46°C in some areas, worsening the conditions.
It also found that the island experienced dry and above normal temperatures and dry and hot weather conditions from January 2023 almost throughout the year.
For Switzerland, the report noted, “Summer 2023 was marked by two prolonged heat periods. The national average summer temperature (average from June to August) was 1.6 °C above the norm, making it the fifth warmest summer ever recorded in Switzerland.”
On July 17, the country witnessed its largest wildfire of the year smoking out 100 hectares of forest and grassland.
As of September 2024, the report said the wildfire season was reportedly less severe compared to the past three years, however, some countries such as Greece and Portugal continued to face devastating fires.
“In September, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously in Portugal. This brought the 2024 wildfire damage above the EU average of the last decades,” the EU said in a statement.
About mitigating measures, the report said that about 96 per cent of the EU wildfires are sparked by human actions making education and awareness necessary.
“We will also need to take climate risks better into account and increase our preparedness and resilience to climatic hazards resulting in wildfires. Adaptation planning is of key importance for this. Prevention measures must target all sectors of the population, particularly those in high-risk areas,” it said.
Other key implementations recommended are improved sharing of information on wildfire risk and forest management practices.
In a press statement issued by the EU, the commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, said, “Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires. The 2023 wildfires again showed that we were not ready to face these risks. We must invest more to better prepare for and prevent these wildfires.”
Apart from Europe, Canada suffered record- breaking wildfires in 2023, decimating over 15 million hectares. Latin America – for example, the Amazon or Central America - face severe fires in 2024, with some countries requesting EU support, the report noted.