Fires in the boreal forests of Canada and Russia significantly worsen air quality and release tons of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere. According to the newspaper’s report, this was reported by the European Union’s Earth observation program. Finance Times.
Boreal forests are forests growing at high latitudes where negative temperatures persist for 6 to 8 months per year, trees can reach at least 5 m in height, and canopy density of 10% or more.
The material says that fires in Alberta, Canada’s main oil-producing province, have burned nearly 1 million acres since January 1, released 5 megatons of carbon into the air, and about 30,000 people were evacuated in the last week alone. The fires in Canada have created large plumes of smoke visible from satellites that have crossed the country towards the northeast of the US in recent days and are expected to continue towards the Atlantic Ocean in the coming days.
In Russia, in the Urals and Siberia, forest fires are intensifying in the strip stretching from the Chelyabinsk region to the Omsk and Novosibirsk regions, to Primorye, and also include Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
The International Energy Agency estimates that global carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industry will hit a new record of 36.8 Gt in 2022.
As the article underlines, while northern wildfires in the spring are not unusual, scientists have observed an increase in wildfire intensity over the past decade as average temperatures in the north of the planet rise faster as global warming approaches the equator. The material also says that wildfires in the northern hemisphere are becoming more frequent and intense as the planet warms and summers warm.
May 10 at the Ministry of Emergencies of the Russian Federation reportedIt was reported that all fires that threatened settlements in the Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen regions were eliminated.