Two firemen dwarfed by giant flames during forest fires in Southern France. Source: REUTERS/Pascal Deschamps

There is no doubt that hot and dry weather conditions can make fires much more severe. Direct pressures that cause fires vary widely and are both social and ecological in nature. Prevention and control strategies address public awareness, repression of crime, silvicultural cleaning measures to reduce the fuel load, and economic incentives for appropriate management measures, as well as effective fire suppression.
As with the heavy rainfall and floods in Central Europe in 2002, the 2003 extreme weather-related events in Europe cannot be attributed to climate change and its pressures alone, but they show what may happen if climate change continues. Europe has experienced an unprecedented rate of warming in recent decades, with an overall temperature rise of as much as 2 ºC over large areas of the Arctic since the early 1950s (Bernes 2002, Klein Tank and others 2002). Average temperatures are expected to further increase, droughts are likely to become more frequent in various parts of Europe, and heatwaves, although rare at present, could become more frequent, intense and longer (Houghton and others 2001).
The cost of climate change mitigation in Western Europe can be reduced significantly through the use of mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol (EEA 2003b). In Eastern Europe, greenhouse gas mitigation costs are expected to be lower than in Western Europe but investments are needed in the energy sector (EEA 2003b). The Russian Federation, which is likely to have a significant surplus of emission allowances, could play a central role in the ratification process of the protocol as well as in the future market for GHG allowances (EEA 2003b). By the end of 2003, however, the Kyoto Protocol, had not yet entered into force.