According to a report updated today by the European Wildfire Information System (Effis) and the European Climate Change Program Copernicus, the European Union has recorded a record amount of wildfires this year.

According to Effis and Copernicus, more than 7.85 million hectares burned from January 1 to November 19.

That’s “more than double the just over 3.17 million acres average from 2006 to 2021,” the report said. These fires generated “total carbon emissions in 2022 estimated at 9 megatons, compared to an average of 6.75 megatons from 2003 to 2021,” the agency added.

The first count, by the two agencies at the end of the summer, already reported record levels, with 6,627,760 acres burned since January.

6.4 megatons of atmospheric carbon

According to satellite data released today by the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), the total emissions from wildfires in the European Union and the UK from June 1 to August 31, 2022 are estimated at 6.4 megatons of carbon, i.e. the highest level in these months since the summer of 2007.

“The duration and intensity of the heat wave that hit Europe in the summer, combined with the general drought on the continent in 2022, contributed to these record fire levels,” Copernicus said.

High carbon emissions in Spain and France

These records are associated, in particular, with large fires that swept the south-west of France and Spain.

CAMS confirms what was already announced in August, namely that Spain and France recorded their highest carbon emissions on record from June to August in a 20-year cumulative period starting in 2003.

As of December 10, wildfires and wildfires around the world have emitted about 1,455 megatons of carbon by 2022, according to CAMS, noting that this number has been declining for many years “due to changes in land use and a decrease in fires in tropical savannahs.” “.

South America and especially Brazil were particularly affected. Thus, from July to October, the state of Amazonas experienced the highest emissions in the last 20 years due to fires, i.e. just over 22 megatons. This is 5 megatons more than the previous record release in 2021.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.