2019 WAS WORST WILDFIRE SEASON EVER: EU REPORT

Last year will go down as the worst for wildfires on record, according to an EU report. According to the EU’s Joint Research Centre annual forest fires report, 2019 was the worst-ever year for forest fires around the world in recent history. Some 400,000 hectares of Europe's natural land was burnt and a record high number of nature protection areas were affected by wildfires, it said. Spain, Portugal and Poland recorded the highest number of fires in EU countries. Climate change continued to affect the length and intensity of wildfire risk in Europe, the report explained. Even before the ‘fire season' in most countries started in March, the EU's total burnt area in 2019 was already above the annual average of the last 12 years. “Changing weather associated with climate change is increasing the risk of forest fires around the world,” said EC Commissioner responsible for the Joint Research Centre, Mariya Gabriel.