Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change monitoring agency, reported that wildfires are once again raging in the Arctic Circle.
This is the third high-intensity fire in the area in the past five years.
In a statement released on Thursday, Copernicus reported that warmer temperatures and dry conditions in Sakha, Russia, would provide ideal conditions for wildfires should a spark occur.
Scientists worry that smoke from the flames will hamper Arctic ice’s ability to reflect solar radiation, meaning both land and ocean will absorb more heat.
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), which has been tracking emissions from Arctic wildfires, found that most of the wildfires in June were burning in Russia’s Sakha region.
Carbon emissions from wildfires throughout June were the third highest in the past two decades, at 6.8 megatons of carbon, according to estimates from the Copernicus study, behind fires in 2020 and 2019.
The carbon emissions for that year were 16.3 megatons and 13.8 megatons respectively.
In 2021, wildfires also swept through Saha, but they were not as intense as the fires in 2020 and 2019.
CAMS senior scientist Mark Parrington said the conditions leading to the latest round of fires were similar to the massive wildfires of 2019 and 2020.
Gail Whiteman, a professor at the University of Exeter, said the Arctic is “ground zero for climate change and the increase in wildfires in Siberia is a clear warning sign that this important system is approaching dangerous climate tipping points”.
Professor Whiteman added: “What happens in the Arctic does not stay there.” He said the fires were “a warning for urgent action”.
As climate change causes Arctic temperatures to rise, wildfires are moving north, burning boreal forests and tundra and releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases from carbon-rich organic soils.
Scientists say the region’s carbon emissions in June were the third highest in two decades.
The region, located in Russia’s far north, experienced widespread wildfires in 2021, destroying nearly 19 million hectares of land.
Russia’s state news agency TASS quoted the region’s deputy minister of ecology, management and forestry as saying that as of June 24, more than 160 wildfires had affected nearly 460,000 hectares of land.
Additionally, Arctic sea ice has been declining rapidly since the 1980s.
