Internal displacement due to wildfires 24% higher than in last 5 years & 4 times of last year
Effects of global warming are cuurently on display in Europe, especially France. Spreading fires amid a heatwave has forced thousands to flee their homes even as the air quality has worsened.
French cities have broken temperature records as the searing heatwave continues. Western Nantes, for instance, recorded 42 degrees Celsius, surpassing 40.3°C recorded in 1949.
Nearly 36,750 people have been evacuated from their homes because of blazes in the Gironde region of southwestern France. This is 24 per cent more than the number of people internally displaced due to wildfires in five years and 4.6 times that in 2021.
From 2017-2021, 29,548 people were displaced due to incidences of wildfires, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
In 2021, 8,000 people were displaced internally in France due to wildfires, according to IDMC estimates.
The wildfires were more intense and devastating this year. Extreme heat in western Europe has been causing devastating wildfires in France and Spain, said the World Meteorological Organization in its statement July 20, 2022.
Fire activities across Europe on June 17-18 was five times of last year
Around 39,904 hectares of forest land has been destroyed due to 224 wildfires as of July 19, 2022, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. This is the second-largest area burnt in wildfires In 14 years. The destruction was more widespread in 2019, when 43,602 hectares of forest land was burnt by 304 wildfires.
With rising temperatures, the wildfires have become more severe since 2016. From 2017-2022, close to 151,912 hectares of land has been burnt. This is 5.7 times the area burnt from 2011-2016.
Of this, the Gironde region accounts for around 20,300 hectares of forest land burnt since July 12, 2022, according to a statement on the website of state services, Girande.
In La Teste-de-Buch, 7,000 hectares of forest was destroyed and more than 20,000 people have been evacuated since the crisis began. Around 13,300 hectares have been burnt in Landiras in the district of Langon.
The number of people displaced is likely to increase as the situation remains unchanged.
Close to 2,000 firefighters from all over France are working to tackle this disaster. While the progression of the fires in La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras was limited, another wildfire began at Versac on July 18, 2022, which burnt 80 hectares of land in total. At least 550 people were evacuated to safer places.
The daily average suspended particulate matter 10 (PM10) levels exceeded 80 micrograms per cubic metre (alert threshold) since the wildfires started, confirmed a statement by state services, Girande July 19, 2022. Smoke created by wildfires is a mixture of pollutants, including particulate matter, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.
These air pollutants from wildfire smoke are associated with adverse respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes, showed the studies.
The PM10 concentration levels observed in the region have already reached significant levels, and are above the alert threshold by Atmo Nouvelle Aquitaine, an air pollution data contributor.
This will also affect a large part of the metropolitan territory. Southwestern regions — New Aquitaine and Occitanie — are likely to be affected the most and poor air quality may last longer in these areas too, Copernicus Air Quality Monitoring Service alerted July 19, 2022.
Predicted location of PM10 plumes from forest fires in Gironde, Spain
Source: Copernicus Air Quality Monitoring Service
Fabienne Buccio, prefect of the Gironde, had placed the Gironde department in red vigilance (very high vigilance / level 4 on a scale of 5) for the risk of forest fires from July 14, 2022.
“The department of the Gironde remains on alert RED forest fires continues to remain on alert RED forest fires,” Buccio said July 19, 2022.
Globally, climate disasters, including wildfires, were responsible for 62 per cent of new internal migration in 2021, according to IDMC. In Europe and Central Asia, 276,000 internal displacements were recorded due to extreme weather events, which included wildfires, in the Mediterranean as well.
Wildfires are predicted to worsen in the coming years and decades, warned the United Nations. So, integrated wildfire management is the key to adapting to current and future changes in wildfire risk as the UN suggested recently.
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