Eastern Mediterranean forest fires significantly boost carbon emissions to extraordinary heights

The past few months have seen a significant increase in forest fires across various parts of the world, with emissions reaching record highs in some regions.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, severe forest fires in Greece and Turkey have contributed to a total estimated emissions level in June and July that is the highest in the last 23 years. Southwest Europe also experienced significant forest fire activity in July, with large areas of southern France, Catalonia (northeast Spain), and Portugal affected at the beginning of the month, and several areas of Spain and northern Portugal again impacted in the last days.

The Balkan countries experienced an increase in forest fire activity in July, with Montenegro and North Macedonia having the third-highest emissions in the records of the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) of CAMS, while Serbia and Albania had the second-highest.

In North America, forest fires have been active, but specific data about emissions levels in Mexico, the USA, and Canada were not provided in the article. However, forest fires in Arizona in July left less than 1.5 megatonnes of carbon emissions, the highest level for this month in the records. Forest fires in New Mexico in July were the third-highest since records began, only surpassed by those in 2011 and 2003. California also experienced significant fire activity at the beginning of July.

In Canada, the daily total intensity and emissions of multiple large-scale fires have remained above the average between 2003 and 2024 since May. As a result, the estimated total emissions from forest fires in 2025 have already been the highest in the 23 years of available data, reaching 180 megatonnes of carbon. This makes 2025, up to the end of July, one of the three years with the most extreme forest fires in the 23 years of CAMS data, only behind 2023.

The issue of forest fires in these types of areas is recurring year after year, and it is necessary to prevent these events, be prepared to fight them more effectively, and take all possible precautions to make forests less vulnerable to fire and more resilient.

In the UK, the estimated total emissions from forest fires in 2025 have already been the highest in the 23 years of available data, reaching 0.35 megatonnes of carbon. In Cyprus, a particularly intense series of forest fires between the 22nd and 23rd of this month raised the country's annual accumulated total to its highest level in just two days.

Mark Parrington, senior scientist at CAMS, stated that these fires, along with those still active in southern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, "have been disastrous for affected communities" and noted that "the magnitude of the emissions and the distances traveled by the smoke reflect the gravity of the situation."

The wildfires currently occurring in the Balkans and other parts of Eastern Mediterranean are a source of CO2 emissions, contributing to climate change and air pollution. It is crucial to continue monitoring these fires and to take action to prevent and mitigate their impact on the environment and human health.

Eastern Mediterranean forest fires significantly boost carbon emissions to extraordinary heights