In 2022, more than one million tonnes of CO2 have already been released into the atmosphere in France due to forest fires.
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In addition to short-term destruction, fires have long-term negative effects on the climate. Carbon dioxide emissions caused by fires in France this summer reached their highest since records began in 2003, according to the European climate change program Copernicus on Friday August 12.
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The latest estimates from satellite data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), dated Thursday, show that France’s fire-related CO2 emissions in June, July and August are the highest. since 2003.
More than one million tons of CO2 have already been released by fires in France since the beginning of the year, whereas usually the average at this period is slightly above 0.5 million tons. The current record is nearly 1.3 million tonnes over the year, in 2003. According to statistics from the European forest fire information system EFFIS, 60,358 hectares have burned in France since January.
Much of the European continent is affected by dramatic fires, as the heatwave in the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France “have aggravated”, explains Copernicus scientist Mark Parrington. The probability and intensity of heat waves is itself aggravated by global warming, which is accelerated by human activities and the combustion of fossil energy sources.