Extreme forest fires have doubled in the last two decades: Study June 24, 2024

Extreme forest fires Credits Pexels Deep Rajwar

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Extreme forest fires have doubled in the last two decades: Study

By Linda GIVETASH

The frequency and intensity of extreme forest fires have more than doubled worldwide in the past two decades as human activity has warmed the planet, according to a new study published on Monday.

For the first time, researchers have been able to trace a global trend for the most destructive types of fires responsible for major economic damage and loss of human and animal life.

The study was published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Using satellite records, they studied around 3,000 forest fires of enormous "radiative power" between 2003 and 2023 and established a 2.2-fold increase in their occurrence during this period.

The intensity of the 20 most extreme fires each year also more than doubled, a rate that "seems to be accelerating", according to the study.

"I expected to see some increase, but the rate of increase left me alarmed," said the study's lead author, Calum Cunningham, from the University of Tasmania in Australia.

"The effects of climate change are no longer just something of the future. We are now witnessing the manifestation of a dry and warming atmosphere," he told AFP by email.

The six most extreme years in terms of intensity and frequency of forest fires have occurred since 2017, according to the study.

2023 witnessed "the most extreme intensities of forest fires" of the period studied.

The areas that recorded an increase in extreme fires were grouped geographically, mainly in North America, northern Eurasia, and Australia.

Temperate coniferous forests, which cover the western United States, recorded an 11-fold increase in extreme fires over the two decades.

The Earth's northernmost forests, which cover Alaska, Canada, and Russia, have seen a more than sevenfold increase.

The increasingly dry conditions that fuel mass fires have been linked to climate change.

However, forests also absorb carbon from the atmosphere, and the loss of trees to fires releases this CO2 back into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.

This creates a "feedback effect" on the planet, said Cunningham.

"Fire also covers large regions with smoke, causing major health effects, including many more premature deaths than those caused by the flames themselves," he said.

The study highlighted "the urgency with which we must adapt to a climate more prone to extreme forest fires".

Cunningham said this includes better forest management at the local level to try to prevent large forest fires.

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