Thousands of historic forest fires in Canada this year alone have led to an unprecedented release equivalent to more than a billion tons of carbon dioxide, Canadian authorities estimated on Friday, AFP reports.

This is almost equivalent to the annual emissions of Japan (equivalent to 1.12 billion tons of CO2 in 2021), the fifth largest polluter in the world, and more than the annual emissions of the entire global aviation sector in 2022 (almost 0.8 billion). tons of CO2).

“This summer has turned into a marathon,” Michael Norton, director general of the Canadian Forest Service, said Friday as the country’s west braces for another heat wave.

“Our preliminary estimates indicate that emissions for the current season have exceeded the equivalent of one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide,” and the fire risk will be “higher than normal” through September, he added.

According to data from the European Copernicus Observatory, by the end of July carbon emissions from fires in Canada had already more than doubled the previous annual record of 2014.

Megafires have spread across the country with extraordinary intensity this season, breaking records in many provinces.

As of Friday, Canada had been on maximum fire alert for exactly 90 days, the longest on record. The previous record of 50 days dates back to 2021. (Agerpres)