Bericht des UN-Umweltprogramms UNEP, 23.2.2022 (engl. Originalfassung)
Across Earth’s ecosystems, wildfires are growing in intensity and spreading in range. From Australia to Canada, the United States to China, across Europe and the Amazon, wildfires are wreaking havoc on the environment, wildlife, human health, and infrastructure. Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Fires is the first report by UNEP and GRID- Arendal to take stock of the scale and extent of the global wildfire crisis and has been commissioned in support of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. Over 50 experts from research institutions, government agencies, and international organisations from around the globe have contributed to this report. Their findings are that while the situation is certainly extreme, it is not yet hopeless.
Fire is changing because we are changing the conditions in which it occurs. Not all fires are harmful, and not all fires need to be extinguished as they serve important ecological purpose. However, wildfires that burn for weeks and that may affect millions of people over thousands of square kilometres present a challenge that, right now, we are not prepared for. Lightning strikes and human carelessness have always – and will always – spark uncontrolled blazes, but anthropogenic climate change, land-use change, and poor land and forest management mean wildfires are more often encountering the fuel and weather conditions conducive to becoming destructive. Wildfires are burning longer and hotter in places they have always occurred, and are flaring up in unexpected places too, in drying peatlands and on thawing permafrost.
The costs in human lives and livelihoods can be counted in the number who perish in the flames, or contract respiratory diseases from the toxic smoke, or in the number of towns, homes, businesses, and communities affected by fire. A recent study published in The Lancet indicates that annual exposure to wildfire smoke results in more than 30,000 deaths across the 43 countries included in the study. Other species also pay the price: besides a devastating loss of habitat, the smouldering swathes of land left behind in a wildfire’s wake are scattered with the charred remains of animals and plants possibly fast-tracking extinctions. Last year, fires that got out of control in the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland in Latin America, destroyed almost a third of one of the world’s greatest biodiversity hotspots and there are now genuine concerns that this wetland will never fully recover. Not only can wildfires reduce biodiversity, but they contribute to a climate change feedback loop by emitting huge quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, spurring more warming, more drying, and more burning.
The heating of the planet is turning landscapes into tinderboxes, while more extreme weather means stronger, hotter, drier winds to fan the flames. Too often, our response is tardy, costly, and after the fact, with many countries suffering from a chronic lack of investment in planning and prevention. This report makes it clear that the true cost of wildfires – financial, social, and environmental – extends for days, weeks, and even years after the flames subside. To better prepare ourselves and limit the widespread damage done by wildfires, we need to take heed of the clear warnings and recommendations for future action outlined in this report. We must work with nature, communities, harness local knowledge, and invest money and political capital in reducing the likelihood of wildfires starting in the first place and the risk of damage and loss that comes when they do.
Den vollständigen Bericht finden Sie hier.