Data released by the Atmospheric Monitoring Service of the European Union's Copernicus observatory indicated that global greenhouse gas emissions resulting from forest fires in the first half of the year reached the lowest rate since the beginning of the historical series, in 2003. According to the analysis, these emissions totaled less than 400 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e).
Global wildfire emissions fall to lowest level in 24 years
Data released by the Atmospheric Monitoring Service of the European Union's Copernicus observatory indicated that global greenhouse gas emissions resulting from forest fires in the first half of the year reached the...
The information was compiled by the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS), based on satellite observations of active fires. According to Copernicus, the drop in global emissions was driven by reduced levels of seasonal fires in tropical Africa.
Africa and Asia are the continents that contributed most to the reduction in carbon emissions from forest fires between January and June, with respectively 154 MtCO2e and 113 MtCO2e. In the same period last year, emissions from forest fires totaled 213 MtCO2e in Africa and 164 MtCO2e in Asia. South America also recorded a drop, going from 40.9 MtCO2e in the first half of 2025 to 38.8 MtCO2e in the first six months of 2026.
The most intense fire activity last semester occurred in the Australian state of Victoria at the beginning of the year. Fires were also recorded in South American Patagonia, in the regions of Biobío (Chile) and Chubut (Argentina). These blazes have become three times more likely due to climate change, shows a study by the global network of climate scientists World Weather Attribution (WWA).
Despite the positive data, the outlook for the remainder of the year is worrying. In North America, the heat waves that covered much of the continent have already caused an increase in forest fire emissions in the second half of June. According to Copernicus, the largest fires on the subcontinent so far have been observed in Canada, the province of Manitoba and the Northwest territories.
Other areas of the Northern Hemisphere have also started to register outbreaks in recent weeks. In the far east of Russia, columns of smoke have been observed since May, which advanced to Siberia in June. Satellites also captured fires in Greenland, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. And the flames advanced into southern Europe after the latest heat wave.
Another fear is the chance of a “Super El Niño” in the coming months, which could intensify drought in forested regions around the world. “The conditions predicted for El Niño have the potential to increase global emissions resulting from fires, as we observed during the previous years of the climate phenomenon, in 2015 and 2019”, highlighted Mark Parrington, senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, cited by Agência Brasil.
ICL Notícias, Jornal da Globo, Jornal de Brasília, Poder360 and Um Só Planeta shared the news.
Source: ClimaInfo
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