Forest Fires & Rising Temperatures in Portugal
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| Wildfire in northern Portugal 2022 |
There has been an increase in the number of wildfires in Portugal and Spain over recent years. According to research by academics of NASA data published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, Portugal is among the countries in Europe worst affected in recent years. Just this month firefighters in Portugal have been battling a huge blaze that has injured a number of people. During the current European heatwave temperatures in Portugal are forecast to exceed 40°C.
In 2017 more than 100 people were killed in wildfires in the municipality of Pedrógão Grande in central Portugal and other areas. Many were trapped by flames and burned to death in their cars.
In 2016, 100,000 hectares of land on the mainland were burnt.
More recently in August 2023 around 800 firefighters attended a blaze near the southern Portuguese town of Odemira, with more than 1,400 people forced to evacuate. At least nine firefighters were injured tackling the fires. Also in August 2023, Santarém recorded a temperature of 46.4C (116F), the hottest of the year [2].
More fires in September 2024 around the towns of Aveiro and Viseu lead to the loss of seven lives. Over 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of land were burnt. Altogether in 2024 more than 120,000 hectares across Portugal were scorched by wildfires, according to the National Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation.
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| Wildfire in northern Portugal |
Drought
Wildfires go hand-in-hand with drought and lack of rainfall. This year (2022) Portugal has been enduring one of its driest years on record. The country's weather service, the IPMA reported that almost the entire country was in a state of drought at the end of May 2022.
Research shows that the size and number of wildfires in Portugal began increasing at the end of the 1980s. Climate change is not the only factor at play but also changes in agriculture and land use. Abandonment of land along with depopulation and aging have left large tracts of previously farmed areas vulnerable to forest fires. If the land is untended it often returns to scrub with a subsequently greater biomass that can become the fuel for wildfires. This summer (2024) a team of 556 firefighters from 12 countries will be strategically placed across key locations, including in high risk areas such as France, Greece, Portugal and Spain [1].
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| Tinder-dry forest on Madeira |
Resources
[1] Euronews
[2] BBC
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