Emissions from Canada's northern forest fires were nine times higher than the two-decade average and accounted for nearly a quarter of global emissions.
Gigantic wildfires, made more frequent and more destructive by climate change, released huge amounts of carbon dioxide in 2023-2024 and ravaged parts of Canada's Amazon drain, an unprecedented global tally shows. today.
Wildfires emitted 8.6 billion tonnes of CO2 globally between March 2023 and February 2024, an amount 16% higher than average, equal to about 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. they cause the greenhouse effect and are released due to human activity. At the same time, they had the effect of turning 3.9 million square kilometers into landslides.
Only the relatively quiet period on the African savanna fire fronts prevented 2023-2024 from becoming a record-breaking year for global CO2 emissions.
This is among the conclusions of the first edition of the State of Wildfires study, published in the scientific journal Earth Systems Science Data and produced by the University of East Anglia and other UK-based organisations. which mean issuing it updated on an annual basis.
Emissions from Canada's northern forest fires were nine times higher than the two-decade average and accounted for nearly a quarter of global emissions.
“Over 232,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Canada alone, which underscores the gravity and human impact,” the text recalls.
And other regions of the world suffered, especially the countries where the Amazon flows (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela), Hawaii, Greece…
“In the past year, wildfires have killed people, destroyed homes and infrastructure, caused mass evacuations, threatened the lives of many and damaged vital ecosystems,” said Matthew Jones of the University of East Anglia, the lead author of the paper.
“These fires are becoming more frequent and more severe with climate change, and both society and the environment are suffering the consequences,” he continued.
The authors of the study explain that climate change has increased the likelihood of weather conditions that favor wildfires. According to their calculations, global warming due to human activity has increased the likelihood of weather conditions favoring the outbreak of wildfires in the western Amazon twentyfold.
In the future, such fires will become more likely if humanity continues to emit such large amounts of greenhouse gases — but nothing is meant to be.
“The risk can be minimized. It's not too late,” insisted Mr Jones during a press briefing.
According to a study published in June in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the number and intensity of extreme forest fires, the most destructive and polluting, have more than doubled on a global scale in the last twenty years, due to climate change caused by human activity.
Source: Skai