Forest fires in 2023 caused huge CO2 emissions, exacerbated by climate change - study

A university in the United Kingdom has published a first-of-its-kind study on carbon emissions from wildfires, finding that forest fires last year caused 8.6 billion tons of CO2 emissions, UNN reports, citing France 24.

Details

Forest fires, which have become more frequent and intense due to climate change, released significant amounts of CO2 into the air in 2023-2024, according to a first-of-its-kind annual study released on Wednesday.

Wildfires in natural areas caused 8.6 billion tons of CO2 emissions globally between March 2023 and February 2024, 16 percent higher than average.

Only a relatively calm fire season in the African savannah prevented the 2023-2024 season from breaking a new CO2 emissions record at the global level.

These were the findings of a new study, The State of Wildfire, published in the journal Earth System Science Data. The study was conducted by the University of East Anglia and other UK-based institutions, and its results will be updated annually.

Emissions from fires in Canada's boreal forests are more than nine times higher than the average over the past two decades. They accounted for almost a quarter of global emissions.

In Canada alone, the fires led to the evacuation of 232,000 people and eight firefighters were killed.

Other affected regions include the Amazon (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela), Hawaii, and Greece.

"Last year's fires killed people, destroyed homes and infrastructure, forced mass evacuations, threatened livelihoods and damaged vital ecosystems," said Matthew Jones of the University of East Anglia and lead author of the study.

"These fires are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms, and both society and the environment are suffering the consequences," he said.

The authors of the report concluded that climate change has made weather conditions that have contributed to fires more likely.

They found that human influence has increased the likelihood of weather conditions favorable to fires in the western Amazon by at least 20 times.

If humanity continues to produce large volumes of greenhouse gases, large fires like those that occurred last year will become more likely.

But nothing is set in stone.

"The risk can be minimized. It's not too late," Jones said during the media presentation of the report.

"A low-carbon future offers a great respite from the risks we will face in the future," he said.

AddendumAddendum

Over the past two decades, as human activity has led to a warming planet, the frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires worldwide has more than doubled, according to a study published in June in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.