Wildfires raging through Europe this summer have burned the second-largest area on record, even though the region is only halfway through its typical fire season, according to data from the European Union's Joint Research Centre.
Smoke rises from the forest due to a wildfire in Bushat, Shkoder, Albania, August 3, 2022.Wildfires raging through Europe this summer have burnt the second-largest area on record, even though the region is only halfway through its typical fire season, according to data from the European Union's Joint Research Centre.
A dozen European countries have suffered major blazes this year, forcing thousands to evacuate and destroying homes and businesses. Countries including Italy, Spain and France still face extreme fire risk. Wildfires have burnt 600,731 hectares in EU countries this year so far, the data showed. That ranks as the second-highest total for any year since 2006, when records began. In 2017, 987,844 hectares were burnt.
This year's burnt area is more than double the size of Luxembourg. No other year in the data set had seen such a high amount of burnt land in Europe by August.Climate change is worsening fires, by increasing the hot and dry conditions that help them spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensely. Hotter weather saps moisture from vegetation, turning it into dry fuel — a problem worsened by shrinking workforces in some areas to clear this vegetation.
Victor Resco de Dios, professor of forest engineering at Spain's Lleida University, said the large fires France and Portugal suffered in early July were “extremely unusual” and demonstrated how climate change is causing the fire season to start earlier and last longer.
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