From the west coast of North America to the Mediterranean coast of southern Europe, from the Siberian coniferous forest in the northern hemisphere to the Amazon rainforest in the southern hemisphere, historical wildfires are raging around the world.
Following the rare rainstorms and floods in China and many parts of the world such as Europe, the United Kingdom, and India, the raging wildfires have also issued a climate warning to the world. Scientists say the world is currently experiencing its worst wildfires since satellite surveillance records were made in 2003. Moreover, wildfires continue everywhere.
The well-known gold rush town was destroyed by wildfires
Sky reported on August 9 that the "Dixie" fire in California has developed into the largest single wildfire in the state's history due to strong winds and extremely dry weather. Greenville, a well-known town that was historically inspired by the gold rush, has been destroyed by fire, and about 800 residents have been evacuated early.
More than 5,000 firefighters continue to extinguish the Dixie fire, but only 21 percent of the fires are under control. Including the Dixie fire, there are currently 11 major wildfires in California. High temperatures and strong winds have added a lot of trouble to controlling the fire, and in the next few days, firefighters will face a high temperature of 38 ° C.
On August 5, 2021, local time, the Dixie Mountain Fire continued to rage in California, USA. /ic photo
The Dixie fire, which began on July 13, has so far burned more than 463,000 acres (187369 hectares). The fires have left three people missing, thousands evacuated and some homeless residents confined to tents.
According to the Washington Post, California Fire Department spokesman Edwin Zuniga said, "We are currently facing a fire that even veteran firefighters have never seen in their firefighting careers." ”
The U.S. Interagency Fire Center's website shows that the national level of preparedness is currently at Level 5 (the highest level), and the center reported on August 8 that wildfires have occurred in 15 U.S. states and that 107 fires have burned more than 2 million acres of land. Huge smog from wildfires continues to envelop California, and windy weather has made many wildfires more active.
In addition to North America, wildfires are also raging along the Mediterranean coast of Europe. On Evia, Greece's second-largest island, wildfires burned large tracts of pine forests and burned all the way to residential areas, destroying a large number of homes and thousands of people have fled, according to the Guardian.
In the last two weeks, southern Europe has suffered its most extreme heat wave in 30 years, triggering wildfires that have devastated large areas, killed at least 10 people in Greece and Turkey, and hospitalized many others.
Both major forests in the northern and southern hemispheres have been hit by wildfires
The Siberian coniferous forests of the Northern Hemisphere and the Amazon rainforests of the Southern Hemisphere are equally at risk.
On Monday, forest fires in Siberia spread at record rates, making the current forest fire season the third largest in the country this century, with smoke from the fires spreading across large areas of Siberia, the Moscow Times reported on August 4.
On August 8, 2021, local time, the Sakha Republic of Russia, the local forest wildfires continued to spread. /ic photo
Russian authorities began evacuating parts of the Siberian region on Aug. 9, according to the Associated Press. More than a dozen villages in northeastern Siberia are threatened by fires that have burned down 31 houses and 8 other buildings in one village, and about 3,600 staff members are working to contain the fire.
The British "Independent" said that Brazil's Amazon rainforest is also worrying, the local forest fire season has begun, many forest fires of varying degrees have occurred, despite efforts to fight, the local severe drought is still causing concerns, and the country's forest fire area is expected to show a higher record this year.
Most fires in Brazil are caused by human causes, where fires are often caused by illegal arson in forests to raise cattle or grow crops. According to historical data, forest fires in Brazil usually start to increase in June and peak in September. This is the local dry season, so forest fires can easily get out of control, turning large areas of forest into ashes.
Record total wildfires and carbon emissions worldwide
In addition, canada, Italy, Cyprus and other countries have also suffered rare wildfires.
Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the European Union's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Centre, said extreme heat and prolonged drought had led to forest and grassland fires, the Guardian reported on Aug. 6. "The total number of wildfires globally in July was the highest since satellite surveillance was recorded in 2003, and wildfires continue."
According to the European Forest Fire Information System, the area of wildfires in Italy has increased from almost zero in mid-June to nearly 80,000 hectares at present, four times the average for 2008-2020. In Cyprus, this value has increased eightfold from the average, and in Greece it has doubled. Corresponding figures for Spain, France, Albania and North Macedonia were also higher than normal.
Greenhouse gases released by wildfire burning have raised concerns among scientists. Mark Parrington said that according to their monitoring, wildfires around the world have released 343 million tonnes of carbon so far, a record high and about a fifth higher than the previous record for the same period in 2014.
Scientists believe that climate change is undoubtedly a key driver of extreme wildfires. At the same time, they also worry that extreme wildfires will release more carbon stored in the natural environment for a long time, potentially further exacerbating global warming.
According to an independent research institute International Future Directions, some studies estimate that about 10 percent of the carbon emitted by wildfires could remain in the atmosphere for a long time, exacerbating climate change.
Climate Insider, an environmental news site, says that the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted by wildfires will contribute to the warming of the planet. Moreover, wildfires have destroyed forests that could have absorbed carbon dioxide sustainably; wildfires emit large amounts of smoke and other aerosol material into the atmosphere, all of which could have complex effects on climate change. Global warming triggers high temperatures and droughts in vegetation, triggering and prolonging the wildfire season. Wildfires, in turn, create carbon emissions, leading to a vicious cycle of further global warming.
What worries many scientists and environmentalists is that the wildfire season around the world does not appear to have peaked this year.
Beijing News trainee reporter Chen Yikai
Edited by Zhang Lei, Proofread by Jia Ning