This is a sad record that has been reached in Canada. According to data from the European observatory Copernicus, carbon dioxide emissions caused by the fires have reached an unprecedented level. With nearly 290 megatonnes of CO2 released into the atmosphere at the end of July, the 2014 record of 138 megatonnes was smashed. Canada is one of the countries in the world most affected by the effects of global warming and its many forests make it particularly susceptible to fires.
“Currently, total wildfire emissions in Canada stand at around 290 megatonnes [of carbon], while the previous record high in 2014 was 138 megatonnes,” Copernicus said in a bulletin.
“We have been monitoring fire emissions across Canada for the three months since the beginning of May and over this period they have continued to increase almost continuously to a level that is already considerably higher than previous emissions recorded in our database. of data for an entire year in this country,” said Mark Parrington, scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. The data goes back to the beginning of 2003.
“Fire-related emissions in boreal zones usually peak in late July or early August, so the total should continue to increase for a few more weeks,” he warns.
