More than 1,015,731 hectares have burned across EU countries so far this year, surpassing the 2017 record of 988,524 hectares. The total is compiled from country estimates by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) and counts only fires that burned at least 30 hectares. Spain is the hardest-hit country with over 400,000 hectares destroyed, nearly 40% of the EU total; Portugal has nearly 274,000 hectares burned by August 21st, and Romania about 126,000 hectares. Four EU countries — Spain, Cyprus, Germany, and Slovakia — have had their worst year in two decades. Fires in France consumed roughly 35,600 hectares, mostly in Aude, and Spanish fires have caused four deaths. By August 19th, fires in 22 EU countries emitted about 35 megatons of CO2, approaching the 2017 annual total of 41 megatons.
Wildfires have so far ravaged more than one million hectares of land in European Union countries this year, a record since recording began in 2006, according to AFP analysis of official data. Surpassing the annual record of 988,524 hectares burnt in 2017, the figure reached 1,015,731 hectares on Thursday, an area larger than Cyprus. This calculation is based on a total compiled by AFP from estimates by country from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), at a time when Spain and Portugal are still battling wildfires.
By far the most affected EU country by fires, with more than 400,000 hectares burnt, Spain accounts for nearly 40 percent of the EU total. Portugal, which holds the unenviable EU record of 563,530 hectares burnt in 2017, is the second-most affected EU country. As of August 21st, it never before had an area of this size (nearly 274,000 hectares) burnt so early in the year. Spain is struggling with numerous fires in the west of the country, which have claimed four lives.
Four EU countries Spain, Cyprus, Germany, and Slovakia have already experienced their worst year in two decades of existing data, while, in France, 35,600 hectares of forest have been reduced to ashes, mostly in the southern Aude departement, which was ravaged by a massive fire in early August. Romania follows with 126,000 hectares.
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