Arctic Wildfires Produced Record Carbon Emissions In June - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2020) Arctic wildfires produced record carbon emissions in June, The New York Times wrote citing a report by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

As a result of intense wildfires, more polluting gases were released into the Earth's atmosphere than in any other month in 18 years of data collection, it said.

Overall, in June, fires released 59 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is more than all the carbon emissions produced by Norway in a year.

"Higher temperatures and drier surface conditions are providing ideal conditions for these fires to burn and to persist for so long over such a large area," the newspaper quoted Mark Parrington, a fire specialist at the weather forecast center, which issued the report, as saying.

The release of such amounts of carbon dioxide contributes to global warming and, according to scientists, the fires could lead to more Arctic permafrost thawing.