An area twice the size of Luxembourg fell victim to forest fires in the EU last year. The EU research center JRC reports this – and warns that the situation could get even worse in the future.
In the EU, more than half a million hectares have been destroyed by forest fires in 2023. The area burned is twice the size of Luxembourg, as if it were one Report from the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC).
This makes last year one of the worst years for forest fires in the EU in terms of the area burned. In first place is 2017 with almost a million hectares burned, followed by 2022 with a good 800,000 hectares burned and 2007 with almost 600,000 hectares burned.
Particularly devastating forest fires raged in Greece last summer – as here on the island of Rhodes.
No improvement expected
According to the report, there were particularly violent forest fires in the summer, especially around the Mediterranean. Greece experienced the largest single fire in Europe since the 1980s near the city of Alexandroupoli.
The report warns that climate change could make wildfires even more common in the future. According to JRC, the wildfires caused significant environmental damage in 2023 and produced around 20 megatons of CO₂ emissions. This corresponds to almost a third of all emissions from international aviation in the EU in one year.
In the first few months of the current year 2024, the number of fires almost doubled, although with less damage than feared, as the commission announced. A final report for 2023 with more detailed information is expected in the fall.
Paul Vorreiter, ARD Brussels, tagesschau, April 10, 2024 5:26 p.m