"Intense wildfires that burned through large swathes of Spain and Portugal this summer claiming at least 8 lives and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate were massively fueled by climate change, according to a new report published today. It states that climate change driven primarily by the burning of oil, gas and coal has made the weather conditions that fueled the wildfires 40 times more frequent and 30% more intense."
"The wildfires, which started at the end of July and raged for weeks, scorched more than 380,000 hectares in Spain and 260,000 hectares in Portugal. Together they accounted for two-thirds of burned land in Europe, which this year broke records by surpassing 1 million hectares, an area bigger than the island of Cyprus. While wildfires are a natural annual occurrence, intensified drought and rising temperatures are creating hot, dry, windy weather that makes them burn faster, longer and more ferociously."
Intense wildfires swept Spain and Portugal this summer, killing at least eight people and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. More than 380,000 hectares burned in Spain and 260,000 hectares in Portugal, together accounting for about two-thirds of burned land in Europe as the continent exceeded one million hectares. Climate change driven mainly by burning oil, gas and coal made the weather conditions that fueled the fires roughly 40 times more frequent and about 30% more intense. A regional heatwave was around 3°C hotter and about 200 times more likely, producing hotter, drier and more flammable conditions that intensified the blazes.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]