Forests expand in spite of the fires, but 40,000 hectares per year are destroyed
In the last decade, an average of 40,000 hectares per year of the Italian forests have been destroyed by fires, resulting in - among other damages - the accumulation in the atmosphere of about 2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, equivalent to 0.4 % of the total national emissions of greenhouse gases. Only in 2012, 46,000 hectares of forest were lost because of the fires, 20% more than in 2011. At the regional level, Puglia (the less forested region of Italy) has been the territory with the largest forest area affected by fires (over 6,000 hectares).