Study of the International Network World Weather Attribution reveals that the anthropogenic climate change has increased by forty times the risk of appearance fuel Corresponding to those who caused the devastating fires in Spain and Portugal this year.

OR Iberian peninsula He experienced a month of rare intensity, with temperatures in many areas exceeding 40 ° C. Prolonged waves of heat have played a decisive role in the event of major fires, with northern Portugal and western/northwestern Spain being hit hard. Both countries were recorded by four victims each, and thousands of people were forced to leave their homes and huge areas of vegetation became ash.

Increase in average temperature, mainly attributed to the burning of fossil fuels, has made it 40 times more frequent and 30% more intense Meteorological conditions that favor the big fires, the European scientists note World Weather Attribution.

Frequency and severity of fire incidents

As researcher Thio Kiping points out of Imperial College, London, without the human impact on temperature rise, such favorable for fires meteorological conditions They would only appear once every 500 years. Today, however, they are recorded about once every 15 years. Prolonged periods of high temperatures lead to faster drying of vegetation, allowing the event more fierce fires. These fires can “give birth” their own wind, increasing the height of the flames and causing explosions and multiple new outbreaks in a short radius.

In addition, according to Maya Walberg of the Center for the Red Cross and Red Crescent climate, the abandonment of rural areas plays an important role. *The decline of traditional agriculture and livestock has reduced the natural control of vegetation*, with the result that uninhabited and uncultivated earths become more prone to fires.

Devastating account for Spain and Portugal

In Spain, this year’s destruction is unparalleled, with more than 3,800,000 acres being destroyed, according to European Effis system data that has been monitoring forest fires since 2006. In Portugal, losses reached 2,800,000 acres.

The heat wave that hit Spain for 16 consecutive days in August is characterized by the Spanish meteorological service as Aemet as “the most intense ever recorded”with average temperatures exceeding 4.6 degrees Celsius for the season. Since 1975, Spain has recorded 77 heatwave waves, with six of them exceeding four or more degrees average – five of which occurred after 2019.

According to a recent estimate by the Institute of Health Carlos III, more than 1,100 deaths in Spain may be directly linked to this year’s August heatwave.