Summer 2020 Arctic wildfires break carbon emissions records

The EU’s monitoring service revealed that carbon emissions from the Arctic Circle fires so far this year are already up one-third compared to the whole of 2019, writes Louise Boyle

Greenpeace said the fires they documented were 'clear evidence of a climate emergency', and warned the Siberian landscape is being transformed by heat and fire (Julia Petrenko/Greenpeace)

The summer of wildfires in the Arctic Circle has broken last year’s carbon emissions record, according to the European Union’s earth observation programme, as the region continues to deteriorate at a faster pace than the rest of the world.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from Arctic Circle fires were up by more than a third in 2020 compared to last year, according to new data published Thursday by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) at the EU’s medium-range weather forecasting centre (ECMWF).

Scientists have estimated that between 1 January-31 August this year, CO2 emissions for the region were 244 megatonnes (Mt) – compared to 181Mt for the whole of 2019.