- Menendez brothers' bid for freedom delayed until January
- Arteta calls on Arsenal to show 'ruthless' streak on Champions League travels
- Israel bids emotional farewell to rabbi killed in UAE
- Sonar image was rock formation, not Amelia Earhart plane: explorer
- Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario has ankle surgery
- Prosecutor moves to drop federal cases against Trump
- Green light for Cadillac to join Formula One grid in 2026
- Romania braces for parliamentary vote after far right's poll upset
- US-Google face off as ad tech antitrust trial comes to close
- Special counsel moves to drop federal cases against Trump
- Israel to decide on ceasefire as US says deal 'close'
- California vows to step in if Trump kills US EV tax credit
- Special counsel asks judge to dismiss subversion case against Trump
- Ronaldo double takes Al Nassr to brink of Asian Champions League quarters
- Brazil minister says supports meat supplier 'boycott' of Carrefour
- Egypt says over a dozen missing after Red Sea tourist boat capsizes
- Steelmaker ArcelorMittal to close two plants in France: unions
- Macy's says employee hid up to $154 mn in costs over 3 years
- Germany fears outside hand in deadly Lithuania jet crash
- EU grocery shoppers 'fooled' by 'maze' of food labels: audit
- Awaiting Commerzbank, Italy's UniCredit bids for Italian rival
- Alonso jokes about playing return amid Leverkusen injury woes
- Stocks push higher on Trump's 'steady hand' for Treasury
- G7 ministers discuss ceasefire efforts in Mideast
- Bayern need to win all remaining Champions League games, says Kane
- Indian cricketer, 13, youngest to be sold in IPL history
- Romania braces for parliament vote after far right's poll upset
- France unveils new measures to combat violence against women
- Beating Man City eases pressure for Arsenal game: new Sporting coach
- Argentine court hears bid to end rape case against French rugby players
- Egypt says 17 missing after Red Sea tourist boat capsizes
- Stocks push higher on hopes for Trump's Treasury pick
- Dortmund boss calls for member vote on club's arms sponsorship deal
- Chanel family matriarch dies aged 99: company
- US boss Hayes says Chelsea stress made her 'unwell'
- Deadly cargo jet crash in Lithuania amid sabotage probes
- China's Ding beats 'nervous' Gukesh in world chess opener
- Man City can still do 'very good things' despite slump, says Guardiola
- 'After Mazan': France unveils new measures to combat violence against women
- Scholz named party's top candidate for German elections
- Flick says Barca must eliminate mistakes after stumble
- British business group hits out at Labour's tax hikes
- German Social Democrats name Scholz as top candidate for snap polls
- Fresh strikes, clashes in Lebanon after ceasefire calls
- Russia and Ukraine trade aerial attacks amid escalation fears
- Georgia parliament convenes amid legitimacy crisis
- Plastic pollution talks must not fail: UN environment chief
- Maximum term sought in French mass rape trial for husband who drugged wife
- Beeches thrive in France's Verdun in flight from climate change
- Deep divisions on display at plastic pollution treaty talks
Forest fires: a record year
As the deadliest year this century for forest fires comes to a close, attention is turning to how to prevent such infernos happening again.
In 2023 forest fires destroyed nearly 400 million hectares (988 million acres) of land around the world, killed more than 250 people and emitted 6.5 billion tonnes of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Pauline Vilain-Carlotti, a researcher in geography and wildfires, told AFP 2023's fires had been "out of control" and showed that firefighting capacities were inadequate. Efforts should now be focussed on prevention rather than cure.
"We are no longer capable of coping under current conditions with the current firefighting manpower, thus the importance of acting beforehand on prevention, rather than afterwards on firefighting and extinguishing," she said.
- Historic fires in Canada -
Records tumbled on the American continent this year as it went through a forest fire season in which nearly 80 million hectares (198 million acres) had burned by December 23.
That is one and a half times the surface area of Spain, and 10 million hectares (24 million acres) more than the average from 2012-2022 on the same date, according to the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS).
Canada, where 18 million hectares (44.5 million acres) went up in smoke over the year, drove the increase.
The fires were caused by dryer and hotter weather conditions driven by climate change.
- Deadly year -
With 97 dead and 31 missing in fires in Hawaii in August, 34 killed in Algeria, and at least 26 dead in Greece, the year with more than 250 deaths overall was the deadliest of the 21st century, according to the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) run by the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
Vilain-Carlotti told AFP the rate of excess deaths risks increasing in the coming years, as wildfires come dangerously close to towns and cities.
In 2023 the wildfires engulfed not only areas usually susceptible to forest fires like Greece, Italy, Tunisia, and Algeria in the Mediterranean basin and North America and Australia, but also areas which are usually spared like Hawaii or Tenerife.
In August, Hawaii's historic royal seat of Lahaina was levelled by a wildfire.
- Six billion tonnes of CO2 -
As the fires spread even further, vegetation has less time to regrow, leaving the forests liable to lose their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.
According to recent studies, the fires reduce the storage of carbon dioxide by around 10 percent, Solene Turquety, a researcher at France's LATMOS (Atmospheres, Environments, Space Observations Laboratory), said.
And as they burn, the trees suddenly release all of the CO2 that they have stored.
Since the beginning of 2023, wildfires have released some 6.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to GWIS.
That compares to 36.8 billion tonnes from fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal and cement.
As a rule, around 80 percent of carbon generated by the forest fires is then reabsorbed by the vegetation which grows again the next season.
The remaining 20 percent then builds up in the atmosphere, contributing the climate change.
- Immediate health impact -
Apart from CO2, fires release a string of dangerous particles, from carbon monoxide to ash, soot, and organic carbon.
"These emissions very heavily alter the air quality, over hundreds of kilometres (miles) in the case of the most intense fires," Turquety said.
She said there is "an immediate health impact" on top of "the destruction of ecosystems, property and infrastructure".
According to a study published in September in Nature, the populations of the poorest countries, in particular in central Africa, are by far more exposed to the air pollution caused by these fires than those in industrialised countries.
F.Müller--BTB