Forests worldwide experience more extreme fire conditions due to escalating climate change
In a concerning development, a growing body of evidence suggests that climate change is causing an increase in the severity and frequency of extreme forest fire seasons. This trend is particularly evident in predominantly forested and woodland regions, where worsening "fire weather" conditions are becoming more common.
Fire weather refers to hotter, drier weather, increased winds, and longer dry seasons, which make forests more flammable and raise the odds of large and catastrophic fires. According to two recent studies published in the journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature Communications, extreme fire seasons have doubled the area of forest canopy loss in recent years, notably in 2023 and 2024, when more than 78 million acres of forests burned globally.
Despite a global decline in total land area burned (largely due to transformations in savannas and grasslands to less flammable landscapes), the area of forest burned has increased significantly. The studies found that severe fire weather conditions are now up to three times more likely during extreme fire years in forested regions.
High temperatures and drought conditions exacerbate fire risk by drying out vegetation and soils, increasing vapor pressure deficit, and lengthening fire seasons. This leads to larger fires and more intense fire behavior, emitting large quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
The boreal forests, which store a disproportionate share of terrestrial carbon, are particularly vulnerable to these climate-driven fire increases, posing a significant risk for global carbon cycle disruption. The studies found that the chances of seeing extreme fire weather are roughly double in today's climate compared with the preindustrial period.
The repeal of the "roadless rule" could further increase human activity in remote American forests, along with fire risk. Reduced firefighting capabilities due to budget and staffing reductions, policy changes, and terminated satellites can create a dangerous feedback loop, leading to bigger fires, more emissions, and more fire weather.
Experts were not particularly surprised by these findings, as many regions highlighted have burned in recent years. However, funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development ended a program that helped other countries improve their fire-monitoring capabilities, which could exacerbate climate-driven changes to fire trends.
Tropical forests saw three times as much loss, and North American forests lost nearly four times as much canopy, mostly because of Canada's wildfires. The global trend linked to climate change is a rise in extreme forest fire seasons driven by worsening fire weather, longer and hotter dry periods, and increased carbon emissions from fires, all reinforcing one another in a damaging cycle.
- The worsening fire weather conditions, a consequence of climate change, are linked to a surge in health-and-wellness issues, as larger and more intense forest fires emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
- In the realm of environmental-science, studies have shown that severe fire weather conditions are now up to three times more likely during extreme fire years in forested regions, contributing to an increase in the area of forest burned.
- The rise in extreme forest fire seasons, driven by climate change, not only poses a threat to the environment but also to the health-and-wellness of people, as the boreal forests, which store a disproportionate share of terrestrial carbon, become more vulnerable to these climate-driven fire increases.
