so much for the accuracy of our beloved officials-..this from the algarve observer web site


Today's Features


EC says 45% more land burned in 2005 than govt figures show
8/11/2005 2:22:00 PM
Figures published Thursday by the European Commission (EC) show that around 100,000 hectares of forest have burned in Portugal so far in 2005, 45% more than the figure of 68,166 hectares announced by the Portuguese government, Lisbon daily Diário de Notícias reported.

The report from the European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS) gathered its information from satellite images of the country while the Portuguese Agriculture Ministry relies on visits to the field, the newspaper said.

According to EFFIS, Portugal accounts for 60% of the total area destroyed by wildfires in Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Greece) in 2005.

A report published Wednesday by the EC showed that Portugal accounted for 37% of the total area ravaged by forest fires in 2004.

This year's blazes have led to two deaths in Portugal and left dozens of people homeless.

The newspaper cited an Agriculture Ministry source as saying the disparity between the government's figures and those of EFFIS would be resolved by collating data from both satellite pictures and field visits.

Is anybody surprised......???

little liars!!!!
but who are we talking about here? the press, the EC, EFFIC or the pt government. It’s best to assume they are all lying

' gathered its information from satellite images of the country while the Portuguese Agriculture Ministry relies on visits to the field'

which would account for a difference wouldn't it. Why do you suppose anyone is lying?

well we suppose that the min of agriculture are so stupid here that they dont have access to the same data as the other people mentioned.

well i just looked on google and found this from the european union itself..we presume the min of agric have here internet access
if it doesnt work got ggolge and type in european forest fire institute

http://ies.jrc.cec.eu.int/Forest_Fire_I ... .94.0.html

According to that link they have two bits of software, one predicts where fires are liable to break out, the other maps where fires were at the end of the fire season. I really don't think it is as easy as you make out. I've seen satellite pictures from 2003 showing smoke trails, but it is not an easy thing to measure the burnt area from these pictures. The fires are small compared to the size of the country and you presumably have to take slope into account, on a 30 degree slope the burnt area would be 15% bigger than the plan area.

Its not just the algarve/spain that has the problem, news from malaysia that the " Haze " is back.
This is smoke from fires in indonesia that drifts over wide areas of s, e asia.

It closes airports schools , offices etc it is classed as a seroius health risk.

We know when have been there 3 times when it has happened.

It was a major contributor to the virtual destruction of the tourist industry in parts of indonesia and Sarawak.

Perhaps the authorities should keep this in mind when formulating plans to tackle or reduce the risk of fire.