2023 was a devastating year of forest fires – 12/27/2023 – Environment

Forest fires in 2023 destroyed almost 400 million hectares, claimed 250 lives and released 6.5 billion tons of CO_two In the atmosphere.

The American continent experienced a record forest fire season with around 80 million hectares burned by December 23rd. The rate was 10 million hectares above the annual average between 2012 and 2022, according to the Global Forest Fire Information System (GWIS).

In Canada alone, 18 million hectares were devastated. In Brazil, 27.5 million hectares were burned by December 23, below the average for the 2012-2022 decade (31.5 million), according to data from GWIS.

The Pantanal, the largest humid area in the world, was hit by record fires in November, with around 4,000 outbreaks — nine times the historical average for this month, according to satellite images from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research).

These fires, many of them fueled by dry and hot weather caused by climate change, proved to be “uncontrollable” and “the extinguishing policy was ineffective”, Pauline Vilain-Carlotti, a doctor in geography and expert on the subject, told AFP news agency .

“We are no longer able to face them with our human means of struggle. Hence the importance of acting in prevention”, he adds.

Overmortality

In Hawaii in August, fires killed 97 people and left 31 missing; there were another 34 dead in Algeria and at least 26 in Greece. This was the deadliest year for fires in the 21st century, with more than 250 deaths, according to the Emergency Events Database at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.

According to Vilain-Carlotti, this excess mortality could increase in the coming years, with fires “that are dangerously close to urbanized spaces”, he states. In August, the Hawaiian resort town of Lahaina, Maui, was almost completely devastated.

This year, in addition to commonly exposed areas, such as the Mediterranean basin, North America and Australia, other locations that have been better preserved so far — such as Hawaii and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands — have suffered significant damage.

Impact on climate change

The more fires multiply, the less time vegetation will have to grow back, and more forests may lose their ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO_two).

“Recent studies estimate that fires reduce carbon storage by approximately 10%”, explains Solène Turquety, researcher at the Laboratory of Atmospheres, Media and Space Observations (Latmos, by its French acronym).

When hit by fire, trees release all CO into the atmosphere._two that they stored.

Since the start of the year, wildfires have emitted nearly 6.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide, according to GWIS. For comparison, the use of fossil fuels and cement emitted 36.8 billion tons of CO_two in the same period.

In total, around 80% of the carbon generated by forest fires is absorbed by vegetation that grows again the following season. The remaining 20% ​​contributes to the increase in the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

This fuels global warming in a kind of cycle: more fires contribute to increasing temperatures and more hot, dry days cause more fires.

Immediate effect on health

In addition to carbon dioxide, forest fires release harmful particles, from carbon monoxide to a series of gases or aerosols (ash, soot, organic carbon, among others).

“These emissions alter air quality for hundreds of kilometers in the event of intense fires”, explains Turquety, highlighting an “immediate health effect” that adds to the “destruction of ecosystems, assets and infrastructure”.

According to a study published in September in the journal Nature, populations in the poorest countries, mainly in Central Africa, are much more exposed to air pollution caused by these fires than those in developed countries.