Climate change is leading to a dramatic increase in forest fires, causing deaths, losses of fauna, flora, land and billions of euros and in turn contributing to global warming. All this even in areas with a more temperate climate. “It’s happening before our eyes,” say the scientists: “It’s the effect of what we’re doing to the atmosphere, urgent intervention is needed.”
Mediterranean and California alarm
The satellite data, collected in a study published yesterday, June 24, in the magazine Nature Ecology & Evolution and reported by the British newspaper The Guardianunfortunately they speak for themselves. “Extreme fires” have increased 10-fold in Mediterranean forests and the western United Statesseven times in those of Northern Europe and Canada.
These forest fires have doubled on average worldwide, in frequency and intensity, over the last twenty years. And this also leads to drama vicious circle. Caused by global change, the increase in fires in turn increases average temperatures, thus leading to new fires.
“Double global warming in the North”
Mark Parrington, of the EU Cams (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), explains how “climate change is leading to clear documented increases in forest fires” even outside the tropics, in areas and ecosystems that did not record them so frequently. This is because, he adds, in northern latitudes global warming is progressing at double the rate of the planet’s average.
