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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s 2023 wildfire season will be among the worst this century, according to a European Commission report published on Wednesday.
More than 504,002 hectares, an area twice the size of Luxembourg, were destroyed by wildfires last year, according to the Commission’s Joint Research Center’s report on bushfires in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in 2023.
The three worst years this century in terms of area burned by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) were 2017 (988,427 hectares), 2022 (837,212 hectares) and 2007 (588,388 hectares). Ta.
According to the report, the fires intensified in the summer of 2023, mainly affecting the Mediterranean region, and Greece (near Alexandroupoli) became the largest single fire in Europe since the 1980s.
According to the report, wildfires are becoming more frequent due to climate change, and are causing more damage from wildfires, even in areas that were not previously thought to be fire-prone. The European Climate Risk Assessment report, published in March, added that the situation is likely to worsen further.
Preliminary data for the first three months of 2024 shows that the number of fires is almost double the average, but there was no significant impact in terms of area burned.
According to the report, wildfires are responsible for around 20 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to almost a third of all emissions from international aviation in the EU in a year.
A final report in 2023, integrating the country’s contributions, is expected to be published in the autumn.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Mark Potter)
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