Forest fires

Economic damage of wildfires in Southern Europe is up to €21 billion per season, on average

There is a clear, negative effect of wildfires in Southern Europe on regional economy, an analysis of data over the period 2010-2018 shows. The impact on employment seems to be small, though.

Unprecedented fire activity in the Arctic in recent years due to global warming

The summer of 2020 was the warmest in four decades. According to satellite data, burned area was sevenfold larger in 2020 than the 1982–2020 average. The link to climate change is clear.

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Wildfire smoke particles can be deadly, and climate change will increase health risk

Fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometre is a serious health threat because it can enter the lungs. Particles from wildfire smoke are more lethal than other - urban – particles.

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Weather conditions for wildfires have changed in Southern Europe

The number of days with adverse fire weather conditions has increased over the last 30 years over the Iberian Peninsula and eastern Balkans. A decrease was observed for Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey.

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Experts call for different approach to wildfire management in Mediterranean-type regions

According to a group of experts from all continents it is a political mistake to keep on increasing fire suppression expenditure, while disregarding mitigation and adaptation.

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What conditions cause large wildfires in Portugal and Spain?

Large wildfires across Portugal and Spain can be classified into four types of large wildfires, depending on different combinations of heat, drought and wind that promote these fires.

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Key role of human factors in Mediterranean fire regimes

Trends in burnt area in Portugal and Spain illustrate the complicated relationship between population and fire incidence. Rural abandonment means fewer fires but more fuel for extreme events.

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When will wildfires show the fingerprint of global warming?

Wildfires will occur more frequent and will become more severe as a result of global warming. How do we detect the impact of global warming, knowing that many other factors play a role as well?

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A new generation of wildfires characterized by extreme behavior

Despite a new fire policy, set up in France in 1994 to reduce the likelihood of very large wildfires, these events still occur. Massive fire suppression cannot control all extreme wildfire events.

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Reaching the targets of the Paris Agreement will not prevent wildfire risk increase in Mediterranean Europe

Burned area over Mediterranean Europe may increase by 40-54% under 1.5°C global warming. Higher levels of global warming increase drought conditions that in turn lead to larger burned areas.

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Dry, hot and windy weather over northern Europe: beware of wildfires!

Current weather conditions over northern Europe are typically the conditions for wildfires to occur. Our longread articles of 2016 on Europe’s wildfire risk are as current as they were two years ago.

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Changing drought conditions are linked to extreme wildfire events in the northern Mediterranean

Drought conditions in the northern Mediterranean are changing, leading to fire weather conditions that have not been explored before. As a result, the frequency of extreme wildfires is increasing.

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A future on fire

Large and uncontrolled wildfires seem to have become the ‘new normal’ as some politicians call it. Climate change is one of the drivers, science has shown, but it’s not the only one.

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Wildfires in Portugal: is past trend of forest cover increase now ‘going up in smoke’?

Portugal’s forest area has increased since 1875 from 7% to nearly 40% of the country’s mainland area. This trend has reversed since 1990, however, likely due to wildfires and their mismanagement.

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Deadliest wildfires in California ever: lessons to be learned from southern Europe

“Large wildfires, out of control according to the media, rage across California. Again!” No, this is not the start of a recent article; it’s the start of an article we’ve published last year.

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Abandoned farmlands lead to more forest fires in mainland Portugal

June 18 2017. Large forest fires strike Portugal, northeast of Lisbon. Many people have been killed. This article has been published before on the ClimateChangePost.

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Changing wildfire regimes in Mediterranean Europe: human activities versus climate change

Higher temperatures and more droughts not necessarily increase the number and intensity of wildfires. The combination of climate and human effects makes predictions of future fires highly challenging.

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Wildfire risk is increasing, how to adapt?

Current wildfire risk calls for more than well-equipped fire fighting units. Investments are needed in plane and satellite monitoring of forests, early warning, and more resilience to fires.

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Wildfires increase in Europe from north to south by a factor 10!

Wildfire risk in northern Europe is much less than in the south. In northern Europe, wildfires are rare: the percentage of forestland burnt annually is less than 0.05%, compared with 0.55% for Spain.

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Wildfires and climate change, a connection that’s hard to deny

The impacts of climate change on natural hazards cast their shadows in the increasing numbers of wildfires. The causal connection is hard to deny.

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Forest fires and adaptation options in Europe

Estimates of potential increase in annual burned areas in Europe under a high-end scenario of climate change show an increase of about 200% by 2090

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Forest fire risk in Sweden’s future climate

Northern Sweden is likely to be a fire-resistant region in the future climate. In contrast, southern Sweden is projected to become a more fire-prone region

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Climate change impacts on wildfires in Spain

In the past, the number of fires in North-East Spain decreased, indicating that past improvements in management actions have more than counterbalanced the climatic trend.

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Forest fire danger changes in Finland due to climate change

The probability of forest fire danger days in Finland has been estimated to increase by 56-75% for 2010−2029 and 71-91% for 2080−2099.

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Severe wildfires in southern Greece due to increasing extremes of heat and drought

Mediterranean mountainous areas may face a very large threat from wildfires in the twenty-first century, if socioeconomic changes leading to

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Climate change effects on rural fires in Portugal

Since 1980 an area equivalent to 3/5 of the forested surface in Portugal has burned. The burnt areas in July and August account for 71% of the total burnt area in Portugal.

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Trends in large wild land fires in NE Spain

Over the past 30 years, wild land fires have became more extreme, with fire behaviour more and more often exceeding fire fighting capabilities

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Managing forests and fire in changing climates

Fire policy that focuses on suppression only delays the inevitable, promising more dangerous and destructive future forest fires.

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Future Alpine forest fire potential

So far, forest fires do not constitute a significant hazard in the central and northern parts of the Alps, while on the southern side they are more common

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