Ecological Consequences of Large-Scale Forest Fires in Ukraine in Spring – Summer – Autumn 2020

Abstract

Ecosystems on an area of more than 23,200 hectares have been significantly affected. About 2 Mt of timber was lost. It was found that up to 1 Mt of smoke and about 7 kt of soot was emitted into the atmosphere, which is 15,5 times higher and more than 10 times higher than its average background content in the atmosphere over the entire territory of Ukraine. The emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide were significant. Emissions of other chemical elements (from tens and hundreds kilotons for nitrogen to tens and hundreds of kilograms for heavy chemical elements) were significant. More than 20 PJ of thermal energy entered the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the explosion energy of a 5-megaton bomb. The average combustion power exceeded 46 GW, which is comparable to the power of all types of energy consumed by Ukraine. About 70 TJ of acoustic radiation energy entered the atmosphere, which doubled its average background content in the atmosphere over the entire territory of Ukraine.

The environmental consequences were record-breaking, or rather anti-record, is shown. Full restoration of forest areas requires a time interval equal of 10 to 100 years