• Climate change has made conditions for wildfires in the Iberian Peninsula 40 times more likely.
• Spain and Portugal have experienced record-breaking wildfires, with over 1 million hectares burned.
• A recent heatwave marked the most intense on record, contributing to extreme fire risks.
• Human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, are cited as major drivers of climate change.
• Wildfire impacts include fatalities, evacuations, and destruction of protected areas and species habitats.

The severe heat and dry conditions that fueled wildfires across the Iberian Peninsula this summer have been determined to be 40 times more likely due to climate change, according to a study from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network. Over the past decades, Spain and Portugal have faced their worst wildfires in over thirty years, which have collectively scorched more than 1 million hectares of land, accounting for two-thirds of Europe’s wildfire damage this year, as reported by Reuters, Al Jazeera, and India Times.

Foremost among the causes of the recent wildfires was a historic heatwave that gripped the Iberian Peninsula. In August, temperatures often exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), contributing to conditions that made wildfires more intense. The WWA highlighted that these conditions are now expected to occur once every 15 years, a significant increase compared to once every 500 years in the absence of human-caused climate change, according to findings from Reuters and Al Jazeera.

This year's wildfires led to tragic consequences, including at least eight fatalities and the evacuation of thousands, primarily in Spain and Portugal. The devastation also dealt a significant blow to natural ecosystems in both countries, affecting regions vital for the habitat of numerous endangered species, as highlighted by Reuters and India Times.

Experts emphasize that human activities, particularly the continuous reliance on fossil fuels, are exacerbating climate change, which in turn heightens the risk for wildfires. Maja Vahlberg from the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre pointed to rural depopulation and inadequate vegetation management as compounding factors in creating fire-prone conditions on the ground. “Land that was once lived in and worked has thus become more flammable,” she noted, adding urgency to the need for improved fire management strategies, as stated in Al Jazeera and India Times.