Copernicus: Emissions from European wildfires reach 15-year high

Devastating wildfires across Europe this summer caused the highest emissions since 2007, according to a report by scientists from the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service. The EAS was monitoring the daily intensity, emissions, and air quality of these fires during the summer along with other wildfires around the world.

Left: The total daily radiative forcing of CAMS GFAS for EU + UK 2022 (red bars) compared to the 2003-2021 average (grey bars). Right: CAMS GFAS Total projected CO2 emissions from wildfires from 2003 to 2022. Source: Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service

The Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) reported today that wildfires across Europe have caused the highest emissions in 15 years. The combination of the August heat wave and the prolonged dry conditions in Western Europe increased the activity, intensity and duration of wildfires.

According to data from the CAMS Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) that uses satellite monitoring of forest fires and fire radiant energy (FRP) it is a measure of the intensity of air pollutants present in smoke. Total emissions from wildfires in the European Union and the United Kingdom from 1 June to 31 August 2022 are estimated to be 6.4 megatonnes of carbon, the highest level for those months since the summer of 2007.

The Efficiency Assurance Management System, implemented by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the European Union, reports that emissions in the summer of 2022 came from devastating forest fires in southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula. France and Spain have the highest emissions of wildfires in 20 years.

Elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, which typically experience peaks in wildfires during the summer months, total estimated emissions have been much lower than in recent years, despite some devastating fires. The Sakha Republic and Chukotka Autonomous Region in Far Eastern Siberia did not experience as many forest fires as last summer. Most of the fires this summer also went south in Khabarovsk Krai. Central and western regions of Russia, including the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District and Ryazan Oblast, experienced greater numbers of forest fires resulting in several days of thick smoke and deteriorating air quality. Total emissions from fires in the Central Federal District of Russia were the highest since the large peat fires that hit western Russia in 2010.

In North America, wildfires that began in Alaska in May continued through June and early July with large fires in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories in Canada. In the western United States, total daily fire intensity and total seasonal emissions were significantly lower in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana than in the summers of 2020 and 2021 and were more common in the season, according to CAMS GFAS data.

Meanwhile, the fire season in the Amazon lasted from August to September. Above-average daily fire emissions from the Amazon region of Brazil in the second half of August resulted in one of the highest projected total emissions for the period since 2010 (along with 2019-2021). Unlike the entire Amazon, the state of Amazonas has had well above average fire emissions, resulting in the second highest July-August total (after 2021) in the past 20 years. In the early days of September, there were clear increases in the number of fires in the Amazon, with daily values ​​well above the average in many Amazon states. This spread smoke to a large area over South America. The Efficiency Assurance Management System continues to closely monitor both fire and smoke emissions across the region.

The 5-day aerosol optical depth forecast for the South American ECA was initialized on September 5, 2022 at 00 UTC. Source: Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Mark Barrington, Chief Scientist and Forest Fire Expert for the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, comments: “The scale and persistence of fires in southwestern Europe that have led to the highest emissions for Europe in 15 years have been very worrying during the summer. The majority of fires that occurred in Places where climate change has increased vegetation exposure to fires such as in southwestern Europe, and as seen in other areas in previous years CAMS is now monitoring current fire emissions and smoke trends in the Amazon and across South America as the fire season approaches its peak in the coming weeks.”

More information on how EAM monitors wildfires worldwide, including location, intensity, and estimated emissions, as well as smoke transport and composition, is available on its page. Global Fire Monitor.

More information on fires in summer 2022:
https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/europes-summer-wildfire-emissions-highest-15-years?utm_source=press&utm_medium=outreach&utm_campaign=Summer+2022+Wildfires&utm_id=S22WF

More on Fire Monitoring and Forest Fire Efficiency Assurance Management System FAQs: https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/qa-wildfires

About Copernicus and ECMWF

Copernicus is part of the European Union’s Space Programme, which is funded by the European Union, the leading Earth observation programme. The company operates through six thematic services: Atmosphere, Marine, Land, Climate Change, Security and Emergencies. It offers freely available operational data and services that provide users with reliable and up-to-date information about our planet and its environment. The program is coordinated and managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Center for Medium Distance Forecasting (ECMWF), European Union agencies, Mercator Océan and others.

ECMWF operates two services of the European Union’s Copernicus Earth Observation Program: the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). They also contribute to the Copernican Emergency Management Service (CEMS), which is implemented by the European Union Joint Research Council (JRC). The European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent intergovernmental organization supported by 35 countries. It is a 24/7 operational research and service institute that produces and publishes digital weather forecasts to its member states. These data are fully available to the national meteorological services of the member states. The supercomputer facility (and associated data archive) at the ECMWF is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and member states can use 25 percent of its capacity for their own purposes..

ECMWF has expanded the number of sites in which it operates. In addition to the head office in Great Britain and the computing center in Italy, new offices will be added focusing on activities implemented in partnership with the European Union.like Copernicus, is located in Bonn, Germany.

Copernicus Network for Atmospheric Observation: http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/

Copernicus Climate Change Service website: https://climate.copernicus.eu/

More information about Copernicus: www.copernicus.eu

ECMWF Web: https://www.ecmwf.int/

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