The Arctic is on fire thanks to 'climate crisis'

New satellite images have shown that vast swathes of the Arctic Circle have been blighted by "unprecedented" wildfires due to global warming.

According to the images published by satellite photography expert, Pierre Markuse, parts of the Arctic have been severely damaged because of the heat and dry weather. In Greenland, Siberia, Alaska and Canada, this year's summer (which has been one of the hottest ever recorded in some parts of the world) has facilitated enormous wildfires which are wreaking profound ecological destruction.

The World Meteorological Organisation described the wildfires as "unprecedented" and warned of the impact of CO2 emissions.

In an official statement, the WMO wrote: "Since the start of June, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service has tracked over 100 intense and long-lived wildfires in the Arctic Circle. In June alone, these fires emitted 50 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to Sweden’s total annual emissions. This is more than was released by Arctic fires in the same month between 2010 and 2018 combined."

They continued: "Although wildfires are common in the northern hemisphere between May and October, the latitude and intensity of these fires, as well as the length of time that they have been burning for, has been particularly unusual. The ongoing Arctic fires have been most severe in Alaska and Siberia, where some have been large enough to cover almost 100,000 football pitches or the whole of Lanzarote."

While we're on the subject, watch Sir David Attenborough's stirring speech about climate change:

They added: "In Alaska alone, Cams has registered almost 400 wildfires this year, with new ones igniting every day ... The northern part of the world is warming faster than the planet as a whole. That heat is drying out forests and making them more susceptible to burn. A recent study found Earth’s boreal forests are now burning at a rate unseen in at least 10,000 years."

Back in January, President Donald Trump was roasted by the internet after he made a number of comments that were perceived to be sceptical of climate change.