Portugal’s deadly wildfires have caused record breaking emissions

Deadly wildfires raging in northern Portugal have released record emissions, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). 

With several blazes burning since 14 September, Portugal has recorded the highest total estimated emissions for the month of September in 22 years of CAMS data. That includes both carbon emissions and harmful particulate matter pollutants like PM10 and PM2.5. 

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) pollution can result in serious health impacts, especially in vulnerable groups such as the young, elderly and those with respiratory problems. 

PM2.5 is made up of particles 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter, making its potential implications for public health more significant as they can penetrate deep into the respiratory system and potentially enter the bloodstream. 

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro declared a “state of calamity” for the hardest-hit areas on Tuesday. On Wednesday, almost 4,000 firefighters were battling 42 active blazes with more than 1,000 vehicles and around 30 aircraft. 

Civil Protection has registered five deaths, excluding two civilians who died of sudden illness linked to the fires. Three of those killed were firefighters tackling the blazes. Over 150 more people have been injured, 12 of them seriously. 

The Portuguese Government declared Friday 20 Septembera national day of mourning to honour the victims. 

Officials said on Thursday that firefighters had most of the fires in the north of the country under control with improving weather conditions helping with efforts to tackle the rest. By the early hours of Friday morning, almost all of the wildfires had been extinguished. 

The fires started last weekend, fed by intense heat and strong winds and around 100,000 hectares of land burned in just five days. 

Smoke to drift across France and Spain in the coming days

Carbon emissions can be used as an indicator of the strength of the fires. The estimated total for these emissions up to 18 September was 1.9 megatonnes of carbon. This is almost double the previous record of around one megatonne set in 2003. 

“Our data is showing a clear enhancement in the fire emissions and smoke impacts on atmospheric composition and air quality, reflecting the high intensity that rapidly developed with these devastating fires in northern Portugal,” says Mark Parrington, senior scientist at CAMS.  

A “significant degradation” in air quality over northern Portugal is expected for the next few days as a result of these wildfires, the atmosphere monitoring service says. Concentrations of fine particulate matter pollution known as PM2.5 are expected to stay high until at least 25 September.

Smoke plumes from the fires have so far been moving out towards the Atlantic but could move back across the northern Iberian Peninsula through the Bay of Biscay and towards western France in the coming days. 

Climate change is making fires more frequent and more intense

A study from earlier this year found that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of the world’s most extreme wildfires. 

More than 20 years of NASA satellite data showed that severe burns more than doubled in frequency between 2003 and 2023. They were also 2.3 times more intense with six of the most extreme years happening from 2017 onwards. 

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In Europe, Portugal was among the worst affected countries in recent years.