European Environment Agency's home page

Burnt forest area in five southern European countries - outdated: Burnt forest area (in ha) in five southern European countries from 1980 to 2010.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Forest fires (CLIM 035) - Assessment published Nov 2012: Fire risk depends on many factors, including climatic conditions, vegetation (e.g. fuel load and condition), forest management practices and other socio-economic factors. The number of fires in the Mediterranean region has increased over the period from 1980 to 2000; it has decreased thereafter. In a warmer climate, more severe fire weather and an expansion of the fire-prone area and longer fire seasons, as a consequence, are projected, but with considerable regional variation. The impact of fire events is particularly strong in southern Europe on already degraded ecosystems.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Forest fires
Projected changes in fire danger: Fire danger is expressed by the Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR). Based on projections by the Regional Climate Model (RCM) RACMO2 driven by the Global Climate Model (GCM) ECHAM5 for the SRES A1B emission scenario. Left: projected change in SSR by 2071–2100 as compared to 1961–1990 baseline period; Right: projected annual average SSR in 2071–2100.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
State and trend of fire danger: Fire danger is expressed by the Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR). Daily severity values can be averaged over the fire season using the SSR index, which allows objective comparison of fire danger from year to year and from region to region. The coarse scale of the map does not allow accounting for specific conditions of given sites, as for example in the Alpine region, where the complex topography may strongly affect local fire danger.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Burnt forest area in five southern European countries: Burnt forest area (in ha) in five southern European countries from 1980 to 2010.
Located in Data and maps › Maps and graphs
Sahara dust, sea spray and fires contribute to bad air quality: Human activities are the main cause of poor air quality, but natural sources of air pollution also play a role. A new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) considers how particulate matter from these natural sources affects the air we breathe.
Located in News
Europe's forests at a glance — a breath of fresh air in a changing climate: Forests do not only provide us food, fibre and medicine, they regulate our climate and improve our quality of life. Human activities and climate change exert increasing pressure on our forest resources and the services they provide. With increasing demand on forests services on the one side, and uncertainty and risks linked to climate change on the other, we need to ensure that forests can continue fulfilling their multifunctional role.
Located in Publications
Disasters in Europe: more frequent and causing more damage: The number and impacts of disasters have increased in Europe in the period 1998-2009, a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) concludes. The report assesses the frequency of disasters and their impacts on humans, the economy and ecosystems and calls for better integrated risk disaster management across Europe.
Located in News
Mapping the impacts of natural hazards and technological accidents in Europe: The report assesses the occurrence and impacts of disasters and the underlying hazards such as storms, extreme temperature events, forest fires, water scarcity and droughts, floods, snow avalanches, landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes and technological accidents in Europe for the period 1998-2009.
Located in Publications
Adapting to climate change - SOER 2010 thematic assessment: Climate change is happening and will continue to have far-reaching consequences for human and natural systems. Impacts and vulnerabilities differ considerably across regions, territories and economic sectors in Europe. Strategies to adapt to climate change are necessary to manage impacts even if global temperature stays below a 2 °C increase above the pre-industrial level. The EU adaptation framework aims at developing a comprehensive strategy by 2013, to be supported by a clearinghouse for sharing and maintaining information on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation.
Located in The European environment – state and outlook 2010 › Thematic assessments