This Year’s European Wildfires Are Three Times Worse Than Average

BIG NUMBER

2.6 million. That’s how many acres have burned in the United States so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

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Key background

Wildfires have scorched vast areas of Europe and parts of the United States this summer, forcing hundreds of thousands of evacuations and straining firefighting resources. Scientists say this year’s European fires have been worsened by a “weather whiplash” pattern in which a wet winter and spring fueled abundant vegetation that later dried out under intense summer heat, leaving large amounts of highly flammable fuel for the fires to devour. In the U.S., extreme heat, persistent drought in some regions, dry vegetation and expanding development have increased wildfire risk and made protecting homes more difficult. Experts are warning that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and drying conditions, lengthening fire seasons and creating weather that allows fires to spread faster and burn more intensely on both sides of the Atlantic. Officials say the wildfire threat remains elevated through the rest of the summer.

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TANGENT

The eastern and northern U.S. were under dense smog earlier this month as smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires poured over the border. Residents in more than a dozen states were living under air quality alerts and the smoke dipped as low as Virginia before dissipating. There were roughly 820 wildfires burning in Canada at the time—156 of which were designated “out of control.” In Minnesota, one of the states with the worst concentration of smoke, emergency room visits related to respiratory problems surged 28% in a 10-day period.

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further reading

ForbesClimate Scientist Fleeing Wildfires: ‘We’re In A Race Against Time’By David VetterForbesAs Wildfires Worsen, And The U.S. Chokes, The Only Answer Is ComplexBy Elizabeth MacBride