Forest fires have doubled worldwide in the last 20 years, particularly in boreal forests, “probably” due to climate change, according to a study published on Wednesday.
The situation is especially dramatic in countries like Russia, which experienced unprecedented fires last year, while the “El Niño” phenomenon has exacerbated the loss of forest mass in Latin America, explained the joint report by Global Forest Watch (GFW). , World Resources Institute (WRI), and the University of Maryland.
Compared to 2001, in the last two decades, fires have destroyed approximately 3 million hectares each year, the equivalent of the area of Belgium.
70% of the surface devoured by the flames is concentrated in the northern forests, in regions of Russia, Canada and Alaska, the largest carbon deposits on the planet so far.
Russia lost 53 million hectares in the last two decades, the equivalent of the area of France.
But the situation is also dramatic in Brazil, which lost 9.5 million hectares in that period, the equivalent of 15% of the world total.
“Two thirds of these losses occur in primary forests, which are important reserves of carbon and biodiversity,” the text details.
Brazil and Bolivia, among the most affected countries
The investigation reveals that Bolivia lost 1.6 million hectares in the last two decades. Researchers at the University of Maryland used satellites to determine the area burned.
Fires represent, according to the study, about a quarter of the total loss of forest mass since the beginning of the century in the world. The rest is caused by deforestation or natural causes (storms and floods).
The loss of forests due to fires increased by 4% each year throughout the world, that is, an additional 230,000 hectares. And about half of that increase is due to larger fires in boreal forests, “likely the result of warming in northern regions,” the researchers add.
In Europe, the Copernicus satellite monitoring service warned last week that forest fires reached record levels this year.
Tens of thousands of hectares were lost in France, Spain and Portugal.
Climate change is “probably a primary factor” in that increase. The dog days, which dry out the forests and make them fragile in the face of the threat of flames, are five times more likely today than they were a century and a half ago.
And those fires simultaneously exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions, causing a “feedback loop.”
“In these boreal regions, CO2 has accumulated in the ground for hundreds of years and has been protected by a moist layer. These more frequent and more severe fires burn that upper layer and release that CO2,” he told AFP. James McCarthy, analyst at GFW.
This dynamic, warns the study, can cause boreal forests to cease to be carbon reserves in the medium term.
The researchers call on governments to strengthen forest protection and combat deforestation.
“Forests are one of the best defenses against climate change,” McCarthy explained.
