WILDFIRES COULD LEAD TO RECORD-BREAKING DESTRUCTION IN EUROPE, SAYS EXPERTS

Tue 16 August 2022:

Following a string of sweltering heatwaves and a record-breaking drought, flames in Europe have burnt an area roughly equal to one-fifth of Belgium. Experts estimate that this might push the entire continent towards a record-breaking year for wildfire destruction.

The greatest land fire recorded since records began in 2006 occurred between the months of January and August, according to information provided by the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis).

According to the data, the overall amount of land that has burned throughout the continent has doubled from 2006 to 2021. However, there have been more than four times as many fires overall.

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.

But a fire in Zaragoza, Spain, prompted the evacuation of eight villages and 1,500 people when officials said it had gotten out of control and scorched nearly 8,000 hectares. The total area burned by wildfires so far this year is roughly four times the nation’s full-year average of 66,965 hectares since 2006, according to Effis statistics.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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