War ignited record-breaking wildfires in Ukraine last year, scientists say

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Last twelvemonth was Ukraine's worst twelvemonth for wildfires successful much than 3 decades of record-keeping, arsenic shelling on beforehand lines successful the warfare with Russia triggered an unprecedented fig of blazes, scientists said.

Forest fires successful Ukraine successful 2024 burnt much than doubly the country destroyed by occurrence successful the full 27-country European Union successful 2024, the EU's Joint Research Centre - its autarkic subject probe work - said successful a study published this week.

Satellite information showed astir 9,000 fires torched a full of 965,000 hectares successful Ukraine successful 2024. Ukraine has astir 10 cardinal hectares, oregon 100,000 sq km (38,610 sq miles), of forest. Around a 3rd of the country burned past twelvemonth was farmland.

For comparison, the EU subordinate authorities with the astir onshore burnt past twelvemonth was Portugal, which mislaid 147,000 hectares - its worst yearly full since 2017.

The JRC said outer information showed the fires were concentrated successful Ukraine's east, successful areas seemingly successful adjacent proximity to beforehand lines of the war.

Ukrainian forests person incurred terrible harm arsenic some Russian and Ukrainian equipped forces blast thousands of shells astatine each different each day, shredding the earth.

Maksym Matsala, a wood researcher astatine Sweden's University of Agricultural Sciences, said the main origin was artillery and falling shells igniting fires.

He said the leap successful fires past twelvemonth was partially due to the fact that of a ample build-up of dormant and damaged trees since Russia's penetration successful 2022, which had created plentiful substance for fires during highly adust upwind successful 2024.

"If warfare is continuous, past sooner oregon aboriginal determination volition beryllium a batch of inaccessible areas and a batch of areas with accumulating dormant wood," Matsala told Reuters.

Ukraine's forests are besides riddled with onshore mines and unexploded ordnance that tin detonate during fires - making it intolerable for firefighters to power the flames.

The EU information lone goes backmost to 2020, but erstwhile cross-checked with information from researchers astatine Ukraine's National University of Life and Environmental Sciences, 2024 was the worst twelvemonth for wood fires successful Ukraine since astatine slightest 1990.

Climate alteration is exacerbating wildfires by expanding the blistery and adust conditions that assistance them dispersed faster, pain longer and rage much intensely, scientists say. Hotter upwind saps moisture from vegetation, turning it into adust fuel.

Ukraine's fires mostly occurred during summer, erstwhile this benignant of fire-prone upwind is much frequent.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett; further reporting by Max Hunder; editing by Mark Heinrich)