Thuringian Forest in flames: fires rage over 300 hectares!

Thuringian Forest in flames: fires rage over 300 hectares!

forest fires are currently a hot iron in Thuringia, as the latest reports show. Especially around the Thuringian Forest, the green heart of the region, it is bubbling. In the past few weeks, the situation has worsened dramatically. Current reports describe that a fire in the area of ​​Gösselsdorf in the Thuringian slate mountains overnight has grown from 10 to an incredible 300 hectares and is therefore nine times larger than all forest fires of the previous year, which is an alarming sign for the region. Thuringia-Forest reported the largest forest fire area since the beginning of the records, with a total of 33 fires to 35 hectares. The trend is clear: the forests of the hinterland region are under pressure and concern for the preservation of domestic nature grows.

Not only the risk of fire gives the forest owners sleepless nights. Another factor that contributes to the weakening of the forests is the book printer. These small malice insects are primarily a nightmare for the spruce forests. The wintering of the book printer is often underestimated, since the beetles hide in the floor litter in cooler regions, while they linger under the bark in milder areas. They are quite robust and can also survive strict winter, which favors your inventory. For forest owners, this means that they have a need for action to remove the infested wood from the first frosts and to recover storm and snow break damage from the forests in good time to prevent the beetle from spreading, which otherwise spreads freely and causes further weakening of the forests.

The effects of climate change

What does all this have to do with climate change? A lot! As the German climate portal shows, the conditions with regard to forest fires have changed drastically in recent decades. The study of the research team under Dr. Manuel Helbig explains that the number and size of forest fires, especially in North American coniferous forests, has increased. The CO2 quantities released by fire events not only affect air quality, but also have sustainable effects on plant physiology and temperature relationships in the affected regions.

The problem in which we stand is not only locally, but also has global dimensions. A look at Canada shows that in 2023 140,000 km² forest alone rose in flames, which can assume scary proportions. Such fires not only influence our local temperature, but also change the entire landscape for decades. In total, this leads to a noticeable warming, which could increase up to 30 % over the average annual temperatures if the situation further tightened by 2050

a call for action

The situation challenges us all: Not only the forest owners are in demand, society also has to actively participate in solving these problems. The decline in the bark beetle damaged wood quantities should not weigh anyone in safety, because the fight against the book printer and the associated dangers for our forest must continue.

It is clear that each of us can make a contribution, be it through education or through active action. The forests are not just a retreat for numerous species, but a valuable part of our culture and identity. Let us inspire and act now by nature so that the green heart of Thuringia is not only remembered!

For all those who would like to find out more, we refer to the detailed reports at Insuedthueringen.de href = "https://www.thueringenforst.de/startsite/borkenkaefer-aktuell"> thueringenforst.de and Deutschesklimaportal.de .