Hundreds of huge wildfires have broken out all across Arctic Circle. Areas in Arctic are warming twice as fast as anywhere else on planet. There are so many fires and they are so big that smoke from them can be seen from space. Meteorologists report that Arctic is having its hottest June ever and is suffering its worst wildfire season on record. There are huge blazes covering large areas of Greenland, Siberia, Scandinavia and Alaska. In Alaska, there are as many as 400 fires burning out of control. In Greenland, melting on vast Greenland ice sheet has started a month earlier than usual. The World Meteorological Organization has said Arctic fires are "unprecedented".
Scientists say fires and suffocating smoke could have effect on global warming. Meteorologist Mark Parrington explained what is causing the wildfires. He said: "Temperatures in Arctic have been increasing at much faster rate than global average, and warmer conditions encourage fires to grow and persist once they have been ignited." Dry ground, more lightning strikes and strong winds have caused fires to spread very quickly. lot of ice has melted and flames have set fire to methane-filled earth below ice. This is releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide into atmosphere. The fires have also caused serious habitat loss and have killed uncountable numbers of animals.
