Raging wildfires might push Europe towards record-breaking destruction, says experts

An area equivalent to the size of one-fifth of Belgium has been destroyed by fires throughout Europe after a series of scorching heatwaves and a record-breaking drought, which might pushthe entire continent towards a record-breaking year for wildfire destruction, experts predict.

As per data revealed by the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), 659,541 hectares of land burned over the continent between the time periods of January and August, which is the largest ever recorded since records began in 2006. The data stated that the total land area burned across the continent is twice as large as it was during 2006–2021. However, the overall number of fires has increased by more than four times.

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The figures surpassed the previous record of 2017 by 56 per cent. Presently, over a million hectares of land could be destroyed by wildfires this year as anticipated by the current trends, The Guardian reported.

The statistics were made public after the European Union’s Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service (Cams), issued a warning last week stating that there was a severe fire hazard in Western Europe. According to Cams, active fires were higher than average in Spain, France, and Portugal in July and August.

Nearly 10,000 people were evacuated during the Landiras fire in France. It burned through 14,000 hectares in July. Similarly, a major wildfire that had been raging for a week in Serra da Estrela was brought under control by Portugal on Saturday.

However, in Spain, a fire in Zaragoza forced the evacuation of eight communities and 1,500 people after the authorities claimed that the fire was out of control and had destroyed nearly 8,000 hectares. According to Effis’s stats, the overall area burned in wildfires so far this year is nearly four times the nation’s full-year average of 66,965 hectares since 2006.

(With inputs from agencies)

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