There were fires in France in April 2023, and again in Greece and Italy from June onwards. Are forest fires increasing in Europe? A research report suggests this.
Brussels - If all of Europe's forest fires had concentrated on Luxembourg in 2023, the country would now be leveled to the ground. This emerges from a report by the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC). Accordingly, in the EU alone, twice the area of neighboring Germany was destroyed by forest fires last year.
Above all, the devastating images from the Greek holiday island of Rhodes are likely to be remembered. But there were also fires in southern France, Croatia, Italy and even Germany in 2023, giving the impression that incidents are increasing. As it now turns out, the feeling is not deceptive: in 2023 the fires raged particularly badly in the EU.
2023 will be one of the most violent forest fire years: risk increased, especially in the Mediterranean region
Over half a million hectares have been lost to forest fires across the European Union, the report published on Wednesday (April 10) reveals. According to the information, things only looked worse in 2017, with almost a million hectares burned, as well as in 2022 (800,000) and 2007 (600,000). The survey shows: forest fires are becoming more frequent, larger and, above all, stronger than they were a few years ago.
According to the report, forest fires raged particularly heavily in summer. A map published on X (formerly Twitter) also shows that the risk of fire is particularly high around the Mediterranean. Greece experienced the largest single fire in Europe since the 1980s near the city of Alexandroupoli. The forest fires in 2023 caused significant environmental damage.
According to JRC, the fires produced about 20 megatons of CO₂ emissions. This corresponds to almost a third of all emissions from international aviation in the EU in one year. Globally, there were severe forest fires in Canada, Australia and Hawaii. A final report for 2023 with more detailed information is expected in autumn 2024.
Will the forest fires become more frequent and worse? Climate change increases risk
In the first few months of the current year 2024, the number of fires almost doubled, although with less damage than feared, as the commission announced. Apocalyptic scenes recently appeared in Austria, and violent fires, which were repeatedly ignited by strong winds, also raged on the Italian island of Sicily this year.
But recently there have been fears that climate change will increase the risk of forest fires. As the Federal Environment Agency (UWA) points out, climate changes may make forest fires even more common in the future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expects around 27 percent more wildfires globally in 2050 than in 2000.
This is due to the fact that so-called fire weather will probably occur more frequently due to climate change, as Dr. Friederike Otto explained to the knowledge portal
quarks
. “Fire weather essentially consists of high temperatures, little precipitation and wind,” said the climate expert at Imperial College London. This combination is particularly common in the Mediterranean region. Often there is devastating wind that spreads the flames.
The risk of forest fires is no longer just seasonal, but all year round
Such fire weather conditions involving drought, heat and wind usually occur seasonally. However, recent years have shown that the forest fire season in Europe can now extend throughout the year. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has come to the conclusion that global fire weather periods have been increasing since 1979, but this is based on inconclusive data.
However, experts emphasize that climate change itself is not the cause of forest fires, but that its circumstances are increasingly encouraging them. However, the fires are usually due to human activity - be it arson or negligence. (rku/dpa)