One wild chart shows the intensity of 2020’s Arctic fires

For a vivid idea of how extreme the Arctic Circle fires have been this year, look at the stark graphic below.

Produced by the European Union’s earth observation agency, Copernicus, the chart shows satellite observations of the size and intensity of fires in the Arctic Circle  — the polar region atop Earth — during the last 18 years (that’s the length of this wildfire satellite record). 

The years 2019 (yellow bars) and 2020 (red bars) stand like dominant skyscrapers over the average of the previous 16 years (gray bars). 

“The two years together is quite alarming,” Thomas Smith, an assistant professor in environmental geography at the London School of Economics, told Mashable in late June. “I don’t use that word lightly.”  Read more…

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