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Factcheck: No, Europe is not having its ‘quietest’ year for wildfires
Matched: climate
Claims circulating on social media suggest Europe is experiencing its quietest wildfire year on record. However, this is misleading. The charts being shared show data only through mid-year, missing peak fire season. Full-year European wildfire data shows 2023 was among the worst on record, with over 500,000 hectares burned. Scientists say cherry-picked timeframes are being used to misrepresent the overall trend.
Factcheck: No, Europe’s heatwaves are not being ‘caused’ by declining air pollution
A claim circulating online attributes Europe's heatwaves to declining air pollution rather than climate change. Experts say this is misleading. While reduced aerosol pollution does contribute a small amount of additional warming by allowing more sunlight through, scientists are clear that human-caused climate change from greenhouse gas emissions remains the dominant driver of increasingly frequent and intense European heatwaves.