Since the large forest fires that have hit our country recently have been destroyed or are under full control, data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) are of great interest.
According to available data, although the number of forest fires in 2021 in our country shows a relatively small increase (26%) compared to the average for the period 2008-2020 (Figure 1), the total area burned out records an extremely large increase, equal to about 450% compared with the average for the same period (Figure 2).
Figure 1. Number of mapped wildfires in Mediterranean countries until Thursday evening 12 Aug 2021.
It is worth noting that based on these data, Greece ranks first among the 15 Mediterranean countries surveyed, with a big difference from the second Turkey and the third Cyprus, which also show significant growth.
Rice. 2. The total area of burnup according to EFFIS in the Mediterranean countries until the evening of Thursday 12 August 2021.
In absolute figures, 58 large forest fires were registered in our country until Thursday night, as a result of which an area equal to half a million hectares burned out!
Using these data, we can conclude that the average area of burned out forests per one forest fire in Greece is about 9 thousand hectares in 2021 (according to information as of 08/13/2021), which puts it in first place in the Mediterranean with a very significant difference even from Turkey in second place.
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