(Paris) Major vegetation fires ravaged Arctic regions, particularly in Russia, during the month of June, which recorded some of the highest CO2 emissions in the last 20 years, the European service Copernicus said on Thursday. .
“As of June, CO2 emissions from fires (in the Arctic) already rank third over the past two decades, after the significant fire seasons of 2019 and 2020,” says a Copernicus bulletin, whose Service Atmospheric monitoring system scans vegetation fires that can be detected by satellite.
According to its data recorded until June 26, the current month has already accumulated the emission of 6.8 million tonnes of CO2, compared to 16.3 in June 2020 and 13.8 in 2019.
The area of most intense fire activity currently is in the Russian republic of Sakha in the northeast of the country, which has already suffered significant damage in 2021, Copernicus points out.
“The Arctic is the epicenter of climate change and rising wildfires in Siberia are a clear warning that this critical system is approaching dangerous tipping points,” commented Gail Whiteman, professor at the University of Exeter and founder of the Arctic Basecamp expert group, cited in the newsletter.
“What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay there – changes there amplify global risks for us all,” he warns.
The Arctic is affected by a phenomenon called “Arctic amplification”, which causes this region to warm faster than mid-latitudes, four times more than the global average according to a benchmark study.
Fires emit greenhouse gases and destroy natural carbon sinks, but also degrade air quality. Particles transported in the air can also, for example, settle on ice and reduce its ability to reflect solar radiation.