Wildfires In Arctic Emit More Carbon Dioxide In June Than Sweden In One Year - Report

The intense wildfires that hit the Arctic Circle in June this year produced more carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere than the whole Sweden in one year, the World Meteorological Organization said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2019) The intense wildfires that hit the Arctic Circle in June this year produced more carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere than the whole Sweden in one year, the World Meteorological Organization said on Friday.

"Since the start of June, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has tracked over 100 intense and long-lived wildfires in the Arctic Circle. In June alone, these fires emitted 50 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to Sweden's total annual emissions. This is more than was released by Arctic fires in the same month between 2010 and 2018 combined," the statement said.

CAMS Senior Scientist and wildfires expert, Mark Parrington noted the unusual intensity of these wildfires.

The most severe ongoing fires are currently taking place in Alaska and Siberia, with some of them being so large that they could cover over 100,000 football pitches, the report stated. Only in 2019, Alaska was hit by 400 wildfires. On July 4, the region registered record high temperatures - up to 90 Fahrenheit.

Apart from carbon dioxide, these fires emit harmful substances and gases into the atmosphere such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and non-methane organic compounds.