According to Copernicus, wildfires in the Mediterranean, North America and Siberia caused a record level of CO2 emissions between July and August.
Scientists at the Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service (Cams), the European agency for monitoring atmospheric data, have gathered emissions figures relating to the most recent summer, which was marked by severe wildfires that struck several countries around the world, particularly in the northern hemisphere.
The data show that CO2 emissions reached record levels in July and August, precisely as a result of the persistence and intensity of the fires. In particular, July was a record month globally, with more than 1 billion tonnes of CO2 released. More than half of the carbon dioxide was attributed to fires in North America and Siberia. In August, approximately 1.3 billion tonnes were dispersed into the atmosphere.
Through real-time satellite monitoring of emissions, Copernicus scientists calculated the impact of air pollution. Among the most serious episodes, the scientists highlight the fires within the Arctic Circle, which alone produced 66 million tonnes between June and August 2021, and, more broadly, emissions in Russia, totalling 970 million tonnes, of which 800 million were concentrated in the two regions of Yakutia and Chukotka.
In Yakutia, the agency's experts say, a certain number of fires is not unusual, but 2021 was an anomalous year. Not only because of the scale of the blazes, but also because of the persistence of high-intensity flames from as early as the beginning of June.
The eastern and central Mediterranean basin suffered serious effects due to the intensity of forest fires in July and August. As confirmed by Copernicus, smoke plumes were clearly visible in satellite imagery as well.
The most intense heatwaves were those recorded in Turkey, followed by those that struck Greece, Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, Algeria and Tunisia. The scientists also cite the fires that struck the Iberian Peninsula in August, in particular the vast area near the Spanish province of Ávila.
Large-scale fires also broke out in the western regions of North America throughout July and August, affecting several Canadian provinces, as well as the Pacific Northwest and California. The so-called Dixie Fire, which raged in northern California, is considered one of the largest fires ever recorded in the country's history. The pollution resulting from the persistent and intense fire activity affected air quality for thousands of people in the region.
Furthermore, the smoke cloud produced by the long-lasting fires in Siberia and North America crossed the Atlantic, reaching the western parts of the British Isles (Ireland and the United Kingdom) at the end of August, before sweeping across the rest of Europe. This occurred as Saharan dust arrived from the south, blanketing some southern areas of the Mediterranean and causing a further deterioration in air quality.
Copernicus's analyses do nothing but confirm the fears that emerged at the beginning of August, when several experts had already declared that the fires in Siberia and North America had contributed to the largest wildfire carbon dioxide emissions since July 2003.
