Northern Hemisphere summer wildfires emit record amount of CO2

Blazes in North America and the Mediterranean prompt spike in planet-warming emissions, EU’s Earth monitoring service says.

Wildfires in Siberia, North America and around the Mediterranean caused record levels of planet-warming CO2 emissions this summer, the EU’s Earth monitoring service says.

Globally, forests going up in flames emitted more than 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to India’s annual emissions from all sources – in July and August alone, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reported on Tuesday.

More than half of CO2 emissions from wildfires in July came from North America and Siberia.