According to the EU's climate change monitor Copernicus, wildfires are "again ravaging the Arctic Circle", reports BBC News. In a statement, Copernicus said warmer air temperatures and drier conditions in Russia's Sakha created ideal conditions for wildfires "when a spark strikes," he added. Russia's state news agency Tass quoted the region's deputy minister of ecology, management and forestry as saying that as of June 24, more than 160 forest fires had affected nearly 460,000 hectares of land. It is the third time in the past five years that high-intensity fires have swept across the Arctic, notes BBC News. Scientists fear that smoke from the fires will hinder the Arctic ice's ability to reflect sunlight, meaning both land and sea will absorb more heat, the article continues. Professor Gail Whiteman of the University of Exeter tells the media that the Arctic is "ground zero for climate change" and adds: "The growing Siberian fires are a clear warning sign that this fundamental system is approaching dangerous climate tipping points. The Arctic is not going to stay there,…[these fires are] a warning cry for urgent action.”

In other wildfire news, a new report found that Canada's wildfires last year released more carbon dioxide (CO2) than India's from burning fossil fuels, the Guardian reports . Scientists from the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland found that months of wildfires in Canada released about 3 billion tons of CO2 in 2023, he continues. The fires, which covered an area of forest larger than the US state of West Virginia, produced almost four times more CO2 than airplanes and about the same amount of CO2 as 647 million cars in a year, he adds. The update is not peer-reviewed, but is based on an original study that was, the Guardian notes. (Carbonbrief.com, Malu Cursino, BBC News)