Wildfires cost Europe 4.1 billion euros as temperatures hit record high: Report

As the Mediterranean was scorched by unprecedented heat from Greece to Spain this summer, wildfires have cost Europe an estimated euros 4.1 billion ($4.43 billion) in damages so far this year.

According to a Distrelec report, a significant distributor of power sector components, including sensors that provide early warnings of potential wildfire activity, about 400,000 hectares (988,420 acres) of land have already been devastated by forest fires across the continent. This is based on information from the European Forest Fire Information System.

With an estimated cost of euros 1.66 billion ($1.8 billion) and more than 161,000 hectares of land devastated as of Aug. 30, Greece has sustained the most damage. This is one of the most devastating forest fires to have hit the nation in 16 years. Ever since the recent fires that broke out on August 19th and left at least 19 people dead, authorities in Greece have been on high alert for further destruction.

Spain recorded the second-highest number of forest fires, after Portugal and Italy, accounting for over 84,315 hectares and costing an estimated euros 871 million ($941 million). The research states that expenditures associated with battling fires, replanting, damage repair, and cleanup are included in the estimations for the economic impact.

Fires brought on by climate change have also had an effect in other parts of the world, having an impact on everything from tourism to agricultural output.

According to Petteri Taalas, the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organisation, “The extreme weather - an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate, is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy, and water supplies.” This indicates the immediate need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as feasible.

As firemen utilised planes and helicopters to put out the fires, hundreds of people in Greece had to be evacuated.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)

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