The fires that have hit different parts of the world this year, including forest fires in Canada, have generated less than 1.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, according to data released Monday by the research program Copernicus. The situation is also likely to worsen over the next few years, due to climate change.
In 2021, British Columbia experienced one of its worst forest fire seasons, while other major fires hit Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, mainly due to record heat and cold. periods of drought. Elsewhere in the world, fires have had significant impacts in the United States, Greece, parts of Central America, Africa, Asia and Australia.
In early August, satellite observations from the US Agency for Ocean and Atmospheric Observation even detected as many as 169,000 active fires around the world, many linked to deforestation ravaging the Amazon and the Indonesia, in particular.
The massive number of fires released no less than 1.76 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, according to data released Monday by Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation program. . This is equivalent to 2.4 times Canada’s GHG emissions in 2019, or 21 times Quebec’s emissions in 2019.
Upset climate
The information disseminated by Copernicus also indicates that “several regions” this year broke records of GHG emissions attributable to fires. Some months also broke historic records, including July, in which 343 million tonnes of GHGs were released by fires, especially those raging in Canada. The situation was “worse” in August, with 378 million tonnes of GHG released.
For the European research center, it is clear that climatic upheavals have favored these fires, due to the high temperatures, thunderstorms, strong winds and other extreme weather events which create the “ideal conditions” for the fires.
In this context, the researchers believe that governments must prepare more effectively to reduce the human consequences of these fires, which can devastate communities. This was the case this year for the village of Lytton, British Columbia. These fires also release particles that have negative impacts on air quality.