If the trend continues, 2022 could match or exceed 2017, the worst year on record in the EU since the monitoring system was set up in 2000.
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Are we heading for a record year? The forest fires that have raged in Europe in recent weeks, particularly in the west of the continent, have already affected more surface than during the whole of 2021, revealed, Thursday, July 21, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
>> Fires in France: follow the evolution of the situation in our direct
As of July 16, in the 27 countries of the European Union, fires had ravaged a total of 517,881 hectares since the start of the year, i.e. the surface of a French department such as Mayenne. For the whole of 2021, 470,359 hectares had burned in EU countries, according to EFFIS. “The heat wave is decisive (in the situation) and clearly linked to global warming”underlines the coordinator of EFFIS, Jesus San Miguel.
Nearly 40,000 hectares have burned in France since the start of the year, compared to just over 30,000 for the whole of 2021, more than 190,000 hectares in Spain, compared to almost 85,000 in 2021, and more than 46,000 in Portugal against more than 25,000 in 2021.
Even countries unaccustomed to forest fires see the areas affected soar: in the United Kingdom, just over 20,000 hectares have burned since the start of the year, compared to just over 6,000 in 2021, according to the EFFIS.
If the trend is confirmed, 2022 could equal or exceed 2017, the worst year recorded in the EU since the creation of EFFIS in 2000. Five years ago, 988,087 hectares of vegetation went up in smoke, i.e. the area of a country like Lebanon.