Twofold increase in Extreme Wildfires during past 20 years

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - So far, there have only been minor fires on Cortes, Quadra and Read Islands, but the BC government warns that the province will see more large fires in the future. “Longer, hotter summers lead to more droughts and a longer wildfire season. Dry conditions make it easier for lightning storms and strong winds to start fires. These fires can spread, combine and burn for longer.”

This is not a local phonemenon. A new study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution found that there has been more than a two fold increase in the number of wildfires, around the globe, during the past two decades.

There was a 7-fold increase in Alaska, Canada and Russia.

Lead author Calum Cunningham, from the University of Tsamania in Australia, told APF that, "The effects of climate change are no longer just something of the future. We are now witnessing the manifestation of a drying and heating atmosphere.” 

Cunningham and his colleagues used satellite data to study the energy intensity of nearly 31 million daily fire events between 2003 and 2023. Their focus was about 2,900 extreme events.