Clear indication of climate change now being felt in the Old Continent, data from the European system for detecting fires show – The biggest disasters in Spain and France
Almost four times as many areas have been destroyed this year in European Union due to fires compared to the average of the previous 15 years, while the increase in large fires is just as great, in an indication of the serious effects of the climate crisis now facing the entire Europe.
A huge increase in burned areas is recorded in Spain and France. On the contrary, in Greece the deviation from the average of the period 2006-2021 is clearly smaller, despite the large number of outbreaks that have been identified.
According to the latest data from the European Fire Detection System, based on the service’s satellite observations Copernicusby July 23 more than 5.15 million hectares had been damaged in the EU, compared to the previous decade’s average for the same period of 1.3 million hectares and the worst performance so far this year was 2.73 million.
The figures for the number of fires are similar, as European data show that until last Saturday they had been observed 1,946 fires, while the average over the previous 15 years stands at 520 for this period. Copernicus only registers relatively large fires, which have spread to at least 300 hectares.
The situation cannot be ruled out to worsen next month, as Mr August is historically a particularly difficult month for the fire protection.
The most destructive fires this year have occurred in Spain and France. In the Iberian country more than 2.15 million hectares have turned to ash, an area almost tenfold compared to the period 2006-2021. In France the destruction reaches 420,000 hectares, while the average of the previous 15 years is less than 57,000 hectares for the period up to July 23.
In Greece, the European system has recorded 33 large fires, more than double the 15-year average, while a corresponding change is recorded in the measurement of burnt areas, which reach 130,000 hectares, compared to 61,000, clearly better than the tripling observed in the European level.
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