This year, wildfires reached record proportions in the northern hemisphere. This is what emerges from a preliminary assessment by the European atmospheric service CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), published Thursday. Thus, the 2023 boreal forest fire season, which runs from May to October, has already caused record emissions.
The fires in Canada, which started in May, were particularly serious. According to Copernicus, they have so far caused nearly 410 megatonnes of carbon emissions – by far the highest value ever measured in Canada. Some plumes of smoke reached Europe. They are responsible for a full quarter (27%) of global carbon emissions so far this year. Active wildfires in the country mean emissions will likely continue to rise.
Although forest fires occur regularly, climate change is having an impact here, it is claimed. “As temperatures continue to rise and drought continues, the likelihood of devastating wildfires like those in Canada increases,” said Mark Parrington, CAMS principal investigator.
Fires also occurred in Russia, the Iberian Peninsula, the island of Maui, which belongs to the US state of Hawaii, and Greece, which recorded the third highest emissions after 2007 and 2021.
The Atmospheric Monitoring Service is one of many components of the European Union’s Copernicus programme. It provides, among other things, data obtained from satellite images on the areas of atmosphere, oceans, land, climate change, security and energy.
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