fires

The frequency of fire-related disasters increased significantly from 2015 onwards, according to a study analysing data from reinsurance companies between 1980 and 2023. Forty-three per cent of the 200 most damaging events, in terms of both human and economic damage, occurred in the last decade, the authors estimate in the journal Science. The risks were highest in the Mediterranean and in temperate coniferous biomes, and their frequency coincides with increasingly extreme weather conditions, they add. 

Premature deaths due to smoke pollution from wildfires will multiply to reach nearly 1.5 million deaths per year by the end of the century, according to a study published in Nature. The authors estimate that the increase will be much greater in Africa (11 times more deaths in 2095-2099 than in 2010-2014) than in Europe and the US (up to twice as many). Another study published in the same journal estimates that, under a high CO₂ emissions scenario, there will be more than 70,000 additional deaths per year from fires in the United States by 2050.

More than 350 million people in North America and Europe may have been affected by fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) pollution from the 2023 Canadian wildfires, according to estimates from a study published in Nature. The authors estimate that 5,400 acute deaths in North America and 64,300 chronic deaths in North America and Europe were attributable to exposure to these particles originating from Canadian forest fires.

Climate change has made the hot, dry and windy weather conditions that spread fires across the Iberian Peninsula 40 times more frequent and 30% more intense than in the pre-industrial climate, according to a rapid study by World Weather Attribution. The ten-day heatwave was also 200 times more likely and 3°C hotter due to climate change. The study, which analysed weather observations rather than climate models, warns that fires in Europe are overwhelming firefighting resources and highlights the importance of controlling vegetation in affected areas.

A US team has analyzed the evolution of the global population exposed to forest fires between 2002 and 2021. The study indicates that the number of people exposed has increased by 40%, despite a 26% reduction in the area burned. This is mainly due to the increase in the population living in urban-forest interfaces. 85% of exposures occurred in Africa, even though forest fire disasters in North America, Europe, and Oceania have received most of the attention, notes the study, which is published in the journal Science.  

Between 2019 and 2021, five major fires burned nearly 500,000 hectares in Sierra Nevada (California). Now, a team from the United States has analysed the relationship between the structure and type of ownership of these forests and the development of a severe fire. Their conclusions are that this probability is 45% higher on private land used for the timber industry than in public forests. The results are published in the journal Global Change Biology.

The fire in Yeres (León) has burned the Las Médulas natural area, included in UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1997. Yesterday, the president of the Regional Government of Castile and León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, announced a specific plan for the recovery and improvement of this area. At a press conference, he assured that all the vegetation cover in the area will be restored and a forest restoration plan will be carried out.

Four people have died in the fires that began last weekend on the Iberian Peninsula and have spread to different areas of Galicia, Castile and León, Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura and Madrid. The heatwave that continues to grip the country, strong gusts of wind and their changing direction, and the thermal drought are hampering firefighting efforts. The government declared on Tuesday a pre-emergency phase and thousands of people have had to be evacuated.

Extreme wildfires are becoming more frequent and causing greater environmental and social impact. Current policies that prioritise fire suppression have not only failed to prevent this situation from arising, but  actually made it worse. The report Changing Wildfires - Policy Options for a Fire-literate and Fire-adapted Europe,  released by the European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC), addresses this issue by outlining eight policy options. The report's key recommendations focus on  putting landscape management first —by regulating biomass structure and land use — and empowering local communities.

Several areas in the region of El Bierzo in León and the province of Zamora have seen numerous forest fires in recent hours, forcing more than a thousand people from different municipalities to evacuate. One person has died. The flames have affected the Las Médulas natural area, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Another fire in Tarifa (Cádiz) has forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, and also in Tres Cantos (Madrid), where one person died. In addition, there are active outbreaks in several areas of Galicia. The government declares a pre-emergency phase.