Warning issued over 'severe' environmental impact of Scottish wildfires

Over the last several weeks, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has battled dozens of wildfires across the country, with evacuations taking place in some areas.
Just yesterday, firefighters were at the scene of a forest wildfire for a fourth day.
The blaze in Culbin Forest, near Forres in Moray, has affected an area the size of some 900 football pitches.
READ MORE: Tories told to 'come clean' after sharing call to abolish Welsh parliament
'Images of the recent wildfires across Scotland are harrowing,' Mark Ruskell told The National.
The Scottish Greens MSP added: 'Forests ablaze, scorched earth stripped of its nature, and homes and businesses put at risk. The impact to our environment, its fragile ecosystems, and the plant and wildlife that rely on it, is severe.'
Ruskell also highlighted the particular danger in Scotland given our extensive amount of peatland.
Scottish peatlands store a gigantic 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 140 years of Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions.
(Image: Peter Jolly)
'In 2019, a wildfire on Europe's largest peatland in Caithness and Sutherland doubled Scotland's climate emissions for the days it burned, highlighting the special risks posed in Scotland,' Ruskell said.
'We must redouble our efforts to restore and rewet peatlands, minimising the risk of flooding and wildfires while locking up emissions.
'Record heat, sun and lack of rainfall have all contributed as climate breakdown moves from warnings to reality. Without fundamental change, the threat, and the cost of dealing with it, will only become more severe.'
Academics have warned that wildfires are simply 'the new normal' in Scotland and will become a more frequent occurrence as a result of climate change.
Already last month, the area of the UK burnt by wildfires was already higher than the total for any year since 2012, according to satellite data.
More than 29,200 hectares (292 sq km or 113 sq miles) was burnt as of April 27, according to figures from the Global Wildfire Information System.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Wales Online

7 hours ago

• Wales Online

Nearly 600 people expected to die in UK heatwave as temperatures soar across the country

Nearly 600 people expected to die in UK heatwave as temperatures soar across the country Experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London used decades of UK data to predict excess mortality during the hot temperatures from Thursday to Sunday. It has been officially named a heatwave (Image: PA Archive/PA Images ) Researchers have projected that the current heatwave sweeping through England and Wales could result in approximately 600 fatalities. Specialists from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London drew on historical UK data to estimate deaths attributable to the scorching heat expected from Thursday to Sunday. Their report, issued on Saturday, suggests nearly 570 individuals could perish due to the extreme temperatures during this period. It is forecasted that Saturday will witness the highest number of heat-related deaths, around 266, coinciding with the anticipated peak of the weather's severity. ‌ Particularly hard-hit, London is expected to see as many as 129 extra mortality cases. ‌ The scientists stressed that their analysis underlines the escalating danger posed by severe heatwaves to the public health of the nation. This announcement comes on the back of a publication by World Weather Attribution (WWA) on Friday, indicating that climate change has made such heatwaves up to 100 times more probable and increased temperatures by 2-4C. (Image: PA Media ) Article continues below Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, an academic at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, remarked: "Heatwaves are silent killers – people who lose their lives in them typically have pre-existing health conditions and rarely have heat listed as a contributing cause of death." He urged that the real-time assessment aims to expose the often-overlooked consequences of heatwaves and serve as a call to action. Stressing the severity of the situation, he added, "Heatwaves are an underappreciated threat in the UK and they're becoming more dangerous with climate change." ‌ Dr Konstantinoudis has issued a stark warning for individuals to heed heat-health advice this weekend and to check on the elderly, especially those who live alone. An amber heat-health alert has been activated across England by the UK Health Security Agency, cautioning vulnerable groups about health dangers, including "a rise in deaths". Meanwhile, parts of Wales officially hit a heatwave on Friday. You can read more about that here. Royal Ascot saw numerous attendees needing medical attention for heat-related ailments on Thursday. ‌ Utilising data from published studies on the link between heat exposure and daily mortality rates in 34,753 English and Welsh regions, researchers have made some concerning predictions. By integrating these findings with detailed weather projections from the Copernicus climate change service, they've calculated potential heat-related fatalities. Their estimates suggest that there could have been 114 excess deaths on Thursday, 152 on Friday, 266 on Saturday, and 37 on Sunday as temperatures are expected to drop to the mid-20s. ‌ (Image: PA Wire/PA Images ) It is anticipated that individuals over 65 will be most affected, with 488 of the projected excess deaths impacting this age group, according to the report. However, the experts also caution that heat poses a risk to life across all age groups, with an estimated 82 deaths among those under 65. ‌ Furthermore, the analysis does not consider the impact of the heatwave striking early in the summer before people have become accustomed to the heat, which could mean the actual death toll may be higher than predicted. A recent report from the UK Climate Change Committee has projected that heat-related fatalities could surpass 10,000 annually by 2050 if global warming reaches 2C due to continued fossil fuel consumption. This week, UN experts have sounded the alarm, stating that the world is at a critical juncture to curb warming and has only three years to prevent average global temperatures from rising above 1.5C. ‌ Professor Antonio Gasparrini from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) commented on the severity of the situation: "Increases of just a degree or two can be the difference between life and death." He further highlighted the impact on health services: "Every fraction of a degree of warming will cause more hospital admissions and heat deaths, putting more strain on the NHS." Dr Malcolm Mistry, also from LSHTM, emphasised the risks associated with seemingly moderate temperatures: "Exposure to temperatures in the high 20s or low 30s may not seem dangerous, but they can be fatal, particularly for people aged over 65, infants, pregnant people and those with pre-existing health conditions." ‌ He warned of the increasing dangers without prompt action: "Unless effective mitigation and adaptive measures are put in place in the coming years, the risk of large heat-related death events is set to increase in the UK – we have a large ageing population and warming is expected to increase to 2C by 2050 and as high as 3C this century." Dr Lorna Powell, an NHS urgent care doctor in East London who did not participate in the study, shared her observations from the front line: "We are seeing cases of heat-related illnesses rising in our urgent care departments." She described the rapid escalation of symptoms: "Heat exhaustion can quickly trigger more serious illnesses as dehydration sets in and the cardiovascular system becomes overwhelmed." Article continues below

Wales Online

15 hours ago

• Wales Online

The beautiful scenes captured by photographer who visits the beach every morning at dawn

Scores of swimmers gathered at a Welsh beach at dawn today to welcome in the summer solstice. The Dawnstalkers community swim at Penarth beach for sunrise every morning throughout the year. They were joined today by many more to greet the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Summer solstice marks the day the sun is at its highest point in the sky, before it begins its slow descent to winter. June 21 will be the day with the longest period of daylight and shortest night of the year in our hemisphere, a magic moment of midsummer. To welcome the day we are sharing these dramatic images from Dawnstalkers official photographer James Richardson. James lives opposite the beach at Penarth seafront and goes down every morning to capture the daybreak dippers in the ever changing light and weather of the coast. He has kept a record of the group since it evolved in the pandemic after local, Grant Zehetmayr, began taking a morning swim at daybreak, whatever the weather. Now people come from Penarth and beyond to swim with the group. Some have travellled from Wiltshire regularly and one moved from Lancashire to stay swimming with them. James captures the changing moods and seasons as the sun rises every day through the year. Sometimes the glow turns the sea purple, at other times the sea and sky is burnished bright orange. It's these other worldly scenes that captures the imagination and keeps swimmers returning, even when the water gets so cold it takes the breath away. One describes "crunching" across frosty seaweed in the depths of winter to get to the chilly water. By contrast the midsummer water is warm. The warmest seawater temperatures off Penarth are in August and September at around 16.7C and the coldest in March with an average 8.3C, records show. Sometimes the sea is flat as glass and at others wind and storms whip up the waves for a more energetic experience.. Depending on tides, which come very low and very high here, the group swims off one side or the other of Penarth pier. For James this altering landscape is the perfect canvas. "The light at dawn is always different and depends on the clouds and mist," he says, "I love taking pictures here and it's never the same even though you're in the same place." This time of daybreak is known as the "blue hour" in photography and generally considered as the opposite to the golden hour at dusk. The moment before dawn the sky may be light blue, but in moments as the sun peeps above the horizon it can also come ablaze with reds, pinks, orange and even purple. These photos by James show some of the scenes and colours he's captured through the seasons with the Dawnstalkers. He also shares them on his Instagram at @halfit0.5 and @dawnstalkers. An exhibition of James' work to celebrate the group is planned for September at Penarth pier building. More information about Dawnstalkers can be found here Happy solstice! Sign up for our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.

The Herald Scotland

15 hours ago

• The Herald Scotland

As Scotland gets warmer and wetter, these roses are a safer bet

Can our Scottish roses cope year on year with the effects of climate change? Probably. Roses have grown in every kind of climate - hot, cold, wet or dry - for at least 35 million years and over the last two centuries breeders have developed many different cultivars, so we've plenty choice. Although no one can predict how the Scottish climate will change over time, it may be safe to assume weather extremes won't be too unusual. In Scotland, either longish wet or dry spells of weather, often with one following on the heels of the other, is possible. If there are any patterns, the west will be wetter than the east so depending on where you live, it might be safer to choose a variety to suit either of these conditions. Fortunately quite a few cultivars can handle dry or even very dry conditions. A few of mine, like the gorgeous Rosa Mundi, thrive perfectly well on dryish banks where soil is in short supply. They cope without the oft repeated 'moderately fertile ground' requirement for roses. Bu the ground must be 'free-draining'. Many cultivars have been bred from our native R. Spinosissima, the Scots rose. This species grows throughout Scotland and is often found on cliffs and dunes at the back of beaches, or in sandy or shaley ground on hillsides. So it's the perfect candidate for fairly dry conditions. I have a couple of large and ever spreading two metre tall native Spinosissima which I grew from cuttings. As I write, they're completely covered in gorgeous little white flowers which suffuse the air with a powerfully delightful fragrance. Some cultivars developed from Spinosissima include crimson-flowered Mrs Colville, reaching around a metre and Doorenbos which has delightful little clusters of purple single flowers. Like their progenitor, they flower once in late spring. But other hybrid Spinosissima, like my exuberant little Stanwell Perpetual does what's said on the packet and flowers faithfully right through till the frosts. As you enter the kitchen garden, you pass this hardy specimen and luxuriate in a waft of Stanwell's powerful perfume. And my Falkland flowers over a longish period, if only once. If you live in the wetter west you'll be looking for a rose that handles a fair amount of rain. The secret for good flowering is to avoid lush doubles, however much they appeal because they, like peonies, simply can't stand the rain. When buds are fully formed and about to flower, they 'ball', and never open. The wet outer petals become waterlogged and as they dry out, they fuse together preventing other petals from opening. Why does it unfailingly rain when these beauties are poised to flower? So you would get better results from single or semi double flowers, many of which repeat flower. In my own garden, the fine, full double yellow Alchymist quietly rots, while Golden Gate's equally beautiful yellow blooms survive every downpour, because they're semi-doubles and don't ball. Plant of the week Imperial Star Artichoke (Image: unknown) Globe Artichoke 'Imperial Star' is a very productive and delicious variety of globe artichoke. The large, green flower buds form in succession over a long period giving you plenty of gourmet meals. A large, striking plant that is very attractive in a border or potager, globe artichokes all need rich soil and sun. Providing the soil is free draining in winter they should survive; it is wet rather than cold that tends to kill them.