Brussels, Aug 14
Europe's wildfire season has scorched 439,568 hectares so far this year, more than double the 19-year average for this point in the season, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) said.
The tally covers fires larger than 30 hectares detected by the EU's Copernicus Emergency Management Service, News Agency reported.
Since January 1, authorities have registered 1,628 such fires, up from 1,089 in the same period last year, with associated carbon emissions estimated at 14.11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the JRC said in its latest weekly update.
Fire weather risks remain elevated. A seven-day fire weather index outlook for August 11 to Aug. 17 points to "extreme to very extreme" conditions across much of the continent, with particularly severe risk in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, most of France, the Balkans, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Austria and Hungary.
Higher-than-normal fire danger is also expected in Sweden, parts of Norway and eastern Finland, according to the JRC.