We already knew that road transport is only responsible for 20% of CO2 emissions.
What we too often ignore, however, is that nature can also be harmful to itself.
This is the case during volcanic eruptions or forest fires.
Thus, between June and August, according to the latest estimates from the European Union's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Program (CAMS), the fires in France alone released nearly one million tonnes of CO2.
This represents the annual emissions of 790,000 cars.
Over the past two decades, forest fires have emitted on average in France around 300,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
The only year comparable with 2022 is 2003, marked by a long heat wave and extreme summer temperatures.
The fires then released between June and August 650,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Spain also recorded record CO2 emissions from forest fires during the mid-July heat wave, according to a CAMS report published in July.
On the other hand, the forest fires in Portugal resulted in lower emissions than in previous years.
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Automotive
CO2
Climate
Fire
Forest fires
Global warming