Forests around the world are being ravaged by fire with officials blaming drought, lack of environmental awareness and illegal loggers for the severity of the blazes.
Worst affected is Indonesia, where illegal loggers have created vast tracts of dry tinder on the jungle floors – which then spontaneously ignites. The smoke from the fires has caused nearby Malaysian authorities to declare a state of emergency after fumes reached toxic levels. Schools and airports have been closed, and pollution risen to dangerous levels.
And, despite a later start than usual, spring rains have not stopped annual fires in the US. Of 35 large active fires burning in the country, 25 were in the Pacific Northwest or Northern Rockies. The risk was also very high for parts of Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico.
So far this year, the number of fires across the West is below the 10-year average, but the number of acres burned is higher.
In Europe, Portugal has been hit hardest by the wildfires which have swept through the south of the Continent. Experts have said human negligence and focus on planting profitable but more combustible tree species have created the problem.
“It is like we are sitting on top of a powder keg, smoking a cigar,” the president of the Portuguese Nature League Eugenio Sequeira said.
