Forest fires in Europe cause highest emissions in 15 years | NOW

Severe wildfires that tore through parts of Europe this summer caused the biggest release of carbon and other pollutants in 15 years. Scientists from Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation programme, determined this using satellite data.

Scientists estimate carbon emissions in the European Union plus the UK at 6.4 megatons. Since the summer of 2007, the counters have not been so high.

The combination of a heat wave in August and persistent drought in Western Europe has not only led to more wildfires, according to Copernicus. The fires were also very intense and long lasting.

France and Spain in particular have suffered devastating forest fires. In these countries, the associated emissions were the highest for twenty years, according to researchers from the EU service.

The Netherlands is also experiencing more and more forest fires

There have also been several forest fires in the Netherlands. The Mariapeel nature reserve in North Limburg, for example, is still smoldering. The fire raged there for days, causing a lot of smoke nuisance.

Copernicus regularly points out that high temperatures and drought are becoming more frequent due to climate change. This is also apparent from various reports by the IPCC, an international group of United Nations climatologists. Copernicus wildfire expert Mark Parrington called the scale of the fires “extremely worrying” in a statement.

After the hot summer in Europe, Copernicus will also closely monitor the Amazon region with satellites in the near future. A few weeks from now will be the time of year when there are usually the most forest fires.