Area of Land Hit by Wildfires Each Year Across Europe Could Triple Due to Climate Change
Researchers said better wildfire management could cut projected burned area by up to 92%, even as hotter, drier conditions raise fire risk.
- On Thursday, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research warned that Europe's annual wildfire-burned area could nearly triple by 2100 under high emissions, representing a nearly 192 per cent increase.
- Climate change is driving severe, hot, and dry conditions across Europe, where wildfires have already burned more than 1.4 million acres this summer in France, Spain, Belgium, Greece, and Portugal.
- Thomas Hickler, a scientist at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, noted that improved fire management could reduce burned area by 72 per cent to 92 per cent, though extreme fires may overwhelm containment.
- As wildfires tore through Spain and France last month, nearly 270,000 people were forced to evacuate, while Germany registered around 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer.
- Researcher Maik Billing emphasized that firefighting investments cannot replace climate mitigation, as reducing emissions remains essential to prevent conditions from becoming so extreme that containment limits are reached.
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They could almost triple by 2100 if global temperatures continue to rise at the same rate.
Climate change could nearly triple wildfire damage across Europe, study warns
Study warns climate change could nearly triple wildfire damage across Europe by 2100, expanding fire risk beyond the Mediterranean as rising temperatures make blazes more frequent, unpredictable and harder to control
Not only in France, Spain or Greece, but also in Germany, huge forest areas are burning this summer. According to a new study, climate change could triple the area affected in the future, but there are also counter-tax measures.
Europe’s wildfire devastation could almost triple, new research finds
Wildfires could burn nearly three times as much of Europe each year by the end of the century. That is the conclusion of a study published on Thursday (20 August) by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). “Climate change is driving up fire activity across Europe as hot, dry and windy conditions become more severe,” said Maik Billing, PIK researcher and lead author of the study. Under a high-emissions pathway, annual burned ar…
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