The Arctic is on fire, burning more CO2 than the UK

josh jackman
Written By
Updated on 31 August 2021

Arctic wildfires have led the region to produce a record 244 million tonnes of CO2 so far this year – more than the UK, Italy, or France.

The fires have destroyed millions of acres, and have led the Arctic Circle to produce more CO2 by the end of August than it did in the whole of 2019.

Higher temperatures caused by human-made climate change have created a situation where fires are more likely to spread, scientists at the European Union’s atmospheric monitoring service, Copernicus, told BBC News.

And senior scientist Mark Parrington noted that “warmer and drier conditions have been prevalent again this summer.”

Copernicus researchers have suggested that this led ‘zombie fires’ – which smoulder underground during winter, burning through organic material like peat – to morph into uncontrollable blazes once summer started.

By the end of August, the Arctic Circle – which includes parts of Russia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Alaska, Canada – had emitted more than a million tonnes of CO2 per day in 2020.

That added up to 244 million tonnes of CO2 – which is 63 tonnes more than the Arctic released last year.

To place this record-breaking figure in context, we’ve compared it to other regions, using the latest report from US non-profit the Union of Concerned Scientists, and UK government data.

We haven’t included the top 11 polluting countries in the chart above, which means the Arctic is the 17th highest emitter of CO2 in the world.

That is ridiculous. There’s no reason why the Arctic should be a major contributor to CO2 emissions.

The 20 million km² region is home to just four million people, making its population density the third-least in the world – and 1,400 times lower than the UK.

It’s also hardly an economic powerhouse when compared to nations like Australia and the UK.

But its emissions rival those countries, thanks to man-made climate change laying the groundwork for wildfires, and Russia setting up gas and oil power stations to strip the Arctic of its resources.

If humans continue to pollute the planet and raise its temperature, these wildfires will grow and grow. This will produce more and more CO2, which will continue the vicious cycle for us and the Earth.

Written by

josh jackman

Josh has written about and reported on eco-friendly home improvements and climate change for the past four years.

His data-driven work has featured on the front page of the Financial Times and in publications including The Independent, Telegraph, Times, Sun, Daily Express, and Fox News, earned him the position of resident expert in BT's smart home tech initiative, and been referenced in official United Nations and World Health Organisation documents.

He’s also been interviewed on BBC One's Rip-Off Britain, BBC Radio 4, and BBC Radio 5 Live as an expert on everything from renewable energy to government policy and space travel's carbon footprint, and regularly attends Grand Designs Live as a Green Living Expert, giving bespoke advice to members of the public about heat pumps and solar panels.

Josh has also used the journalistic skills he developed at The Jewish Chronicle and PinkNews to investigate and analyse every green government grant in existence, and examine the impact on the climate of cryptocurrency, Glastonbury Festival, and the World Cup.

You can get in touch with Josh via email.

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