Spain burns 'twice as much as Seoul' due to forest fires this year... A huge procession of soot spanning dozens of kilometers
“It is difficult to regenerate many pine trees”… Wild eagles that have lost their nests and chicks rely on humans for food.
As we go through ‘heavy winter rain → worst heat wave → drought’, “combustible substances pile up in the forest”
“The risk of extreme forest fires is increasing due to global warming… the worst is yet to come.”
[※ Editor's note = Recently, a massive flood occurred in the mountainous area along the border between China and Nepal. Analysis suggests that large-scale glaciers collapsed due to climate change, leading to floods. Climate disasters such as drought, heat waves, and El Niño, as well as the collapse of glaciers, are becoming more severe around the world. Following the 2022 'Visiting Climate Crisis Sites' series, Yonhap News has prepared a special article to revisit sites where abnormal climate shocks have become a reality. In this series, 5 reportages will be published over 3 weeks.]
(Avila [Spain] = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kyungrak Min = The navigation system said there were 60km left to reach the destination, but burnt trees were already starting to appear. This was before we even entered the province of Avila, where the worst forest fire damage in Spanish history occurred this year.
The green procession of the mountain ridge, which was spectacular against the blue sky, was cut off in front of a huge black soot. It looked like an age spot that had suddenly spread, or a faded fruit that had begun to rot. The autumn scenery ruined by the forest fire continued like that for an hour.
In Spain, a total of 153,000 ha (1,530 ㎢) was burned in forest fires this year. It is more than twice the area of Seoul. In the summer, fires spread to 50,000 hectares in the province of Avila, west of Madrid, the capital, recording the greatest damage in Spanish history. It was said that about 70% of the total 8,800 ha of the Iruelas Nature Reserve in Avila was burned.
As you enter the Iruelas Nature Reserve, you can still smell the smell of burning charcoal. Although it has been almost two months since the fire was extinguished, the burnt tree bark still gave off an acrid smell. “In the past, forest fires did not exceed 2,000 hectares in damage, but this time, as much as 5,000 hectares were burned,” said Park Management Director Nicolas González Iruelas. “It was a really serious fire.”
In this area, pine trees in particular suffered great damage. The upper part was naturally green, but from the middle to the bottom, more than half of the pine trees were black and burned. The contrast between top and bottom was clear, as if the lower half of my vision was covered with black cellophane. When I pressed the burnt pine bark with my hand, it crumbled like a pastry that had been 'overcooked' for a long time.
At one point, the flames climbed through the trees and soared up to 40 to 50 meters high. The trees, which had been weakened by being burned from the base, could not bear the weight and fell over one after another. The fire engulfed even the torn stumps and roots, and the huge trees turned into huge lumps of charcoal while lying down. The scorched tree branches reaching into the sky without a single leaf left behind were eerie, as if they were someone's call for rescue.
Burned and fallen trees also covered the road. The park said it was cutting down trees near the road that were at high risk of falling in advance.
Both site managers and local experts point to 'climate change' as the reason why this forest fire damage was so severe. It is said that the vegetation that had exploded due to heavy rain last winter was dried out by the subsequent heat wave, turning the entire forest into a huge firewood.
This January, Spain had the heaviest rain in the last 25 years. In particular, precipitation in the Avila region was 175% higher than normal. What followed was the hottest summer ever observed in Spain. The heatwave led to a severe drought and the forests withered away. The direct cause of the fire may have been man-made, but experts agree that it is the climate crisis that has turned wildfires into out-of-control monsters.
Dr. Claire Barnes of Imperial College London told Yonhap News, "The forest fires in France and Spain this summer were not due to bad luck. The wet winter, dry summer, and successive heat waves caused forests to become filled with dried combustible material."
In Iruelas Park, as the hot and dry weather continued until recently, new 'firewood' was piling up on top of the ashes. When I picked up a pine needle that had fallen on the ground and applied force to it, it bounced back with a 'click' sound, as if a branch had broken.
Experts point out that the decline in the rural population due to aging and the increase in abandoned land due to the reduction of livestock grazing areas are also factors that have increased the risk of large-scale forest fires. The analysis is that as overgrowth grows on abandoned land, forest fires spread more easily and become larger. Environmental groups in the Avila area have been pointing out these issues and emphasizing the need for land management even before the forest fires broke out this year.
Victor Fernández García, a forest fire expert who researches and lectures at the University of Leon in Spain, said, "Since the 1960s, a large number of smallholder and subsistence farms unsuitable for industrial agriculture have disappeared, vegetation has become lush again, and combustible materials have accumulated."
The chestnut forest in El Tymblo, Avila is considered a good example of the importance of management. It is said that the 500-year-old chestnut forest, which is protected and managed by the city authorities, barely escaped the fire thanks to the desperate firefighting efforts of local residents at the time of the fire. El Timblo Mayor Gregorio Arturo Varaz González met with Yonhap News and emphasized, "What is fundamentally important in reducing damage from large-scale fires is human efforts to maintain and manage forests."
When the pine trees in the Iruelas area catch fire, they open their cones and release seeds. It is a kind of survival strategy to protect the pine colony. However, the park explains that most pine trees exposed to heat strong enough to spill seeds have damaged crowns, making it difficult for them to come back to life. He said that since many of the pine trees over 100 years old were burned, it is unclear how long it will take for the forest to be completely restored.
150 pairs of black eagles, protected animals in Iruelas Park, are also victims of this massive forest fire. About 90% of the black eagle nests were destroyed by this forest fire. Although damage to adults has not yet been confirmed, it is presumed that all chicks in the nest were sacrificed by the forest fire. Park staff are helping black eagles, who have lost their chicks and cannot even get food right away, to settle down by directly feeding them.
González Iruelas, director of the park, said it was unusual for humans to feed wild eagles and showed a video he had filmed himself. The black eagle folded its large wings and approached a human to receive food, and the humans who handed it over looked awkward.
The day will come when the blackened forests will regain their natural colors and black eagles will soar above them, but unfortunately, no one can guarantee such a future. Warnings are being heard more loudly that the heat waves and heavy rains caused by the climate crisis may become more severe, and that forest fires may eventually break the 'worst record' every year.
Jose Manuel Moreno, a professor at Spain's Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, told Yonhap News, "As global warming intensifies, extreme forest fire risk conditions will become stronger and more widespread. The worst is yet to come."
