Destructive wildfires increasingly threaten people, ecosystems and the climate worldwide

Wildfire is a natural and necessary process in many ecosystems, but destructive fire is becoming harder to manage where climate change, harmful land-use change, disrupted fire regimes and expanding settlement exposure interact.

The global problem is not simply the total area burned. Harm also depends on fire severity and timing, ecosystem sensitivity, smoke exposure, lives and structures at risk, response capacity and the quality of recovery. A low-intensity savanna burn and a peat fire producing prolonged haze have fundamentally different effects.

UNEP projects extreme wildfires could become about 14% more frequent by 2030, 30% by 2050 and 50% by 2100, and recommends shifting more resources from reaction toward prevention and preparedness. FAO frames this as Integrated Fire Management across analysis, risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery.

This issue covers destructive landscape fires worldwide across fire-adapted and fire-sensitive ecosystems. The desired state is fewer preventable ignitions, less severe and less damaging fire, safer communities, lower smoke exposure, resilient response systems and ecologically appropriate recovery.

Sources: UNEP global wildfire assessment and FAO Integrated Fire Management.