Large wildfires return to the Arctic Circle in June 2024 : Copernicus
-The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service-
The Arctic region of the Sakha Republic has been experiencing much higher surface air temperatures and drier surface conditions than usual for the time of year, providing the environmental conditions conducive to wildfires following ignition. CAMS scientists have been monitoring a significant increase in daily total fire radiative power (FRP), indicating the intensity of the fires, and smoke emissions across the region.
The June monthly total carbon emissions from the wildfires, estimated by CAMS from the FRP observations, are the third highest of the past two decades, at 6.8 megatonnes of carbon, behind June 2020 and 2019, which recorded 16.3 and 13.8 megatonnes of carbon respectively.
Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, says: “In the wildfire emissions monitoring that we do in CAMS we pay particular attention to high northern latitudes and the Arctic during the summer months. Fire emissions in the Arctic have been at fairly typical levels for the last three summers but we have observed the recent fires developing following warmer and drier conditions, similar to the widespread wildfires in 2019 and 2020. This is the third time since 2019 that we are observing significant Arctic wildfires and showed that this northeast region of the Arctic has experienced the largest increase in extreme wildfires over the last two decades.”
Changes in the Arctic climate are of great significance for everyone, as they impact the Earth system as a whole. With this in mind, CAMS has been cooperating with Arctic Basecamp on translating wildfire data into an alert system for remarkable climate events in the Arctic.
Gail Whiteman, Professor at the University of Exeter and founder of Arctic Basecamp comments: “The Arctic is ground zero for climate change and the increasing Siberian wildfires are a clear warning sign that this essential system is approaching dangerous climate tipping points. What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay there – Arctic change amplifies risks globally for all of us. These fires are a warning cry for urgent action.”
In addition to the wildfires in the Arctic, CAMS has also been closely following the intensity and emissions of wildfires burning in the Pantanal wetlands, located in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. In the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso do Sul, (where most of the Pantanal wetlands are located) daily total FRP has been significantly above average for several weeks, and the total carbon emissions for May and June are more than double the previous highest values in the GFAS dataset during May-June 2009. The May-June total estimated emissions are also the highest of the past two decades for Bolivia and Paraguay and the highest for Brazil since 2004. ( With courtesy from Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)