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There is no direct answer to this.
data from global forest monitoring It shows that forest fires could lead to a loss of 11.91 million hectares of tree cover worldwide in 2024, more than a third of the total tree cover loss for the year.
On the other hand, overall data shows that wildfires have actually decreased globally. In a paper published in Science“Unexpectedly, despite climate impacts, global burned area has declined by 25 percent over the past 18 years,” the researchers say.
But there is more to it. Researchers say this is primarily driven by a decline in burning rates in grasslands and savannas as a result of the expansion and intensification of agriculture. Meanwhile, other parts of the world have seen more incidents of fire.
Extreme wildfires in Canada were responsible for approximately 65 percent of fire-related tree cover loss and more than 27 percent of the global total loss.
“At least in the US, it’s not clear whether the number of fires has increased over time, but the area burned has certainly increased steadily over the past 40 years,” says Donahue.
He added, “It is reasonable to speculate that this increase in area has something to do with hotter and drier conditions in fire-prone areas, so it is plausible that it is a direct result of climate change.”
Experts warn that these disasters and continuing fires should not be dismissed but recognized as warning signs of a deeper problem.
According to the World Resources Institute, extreme heat waves are five times more likely now than they were 150 years ago, and their frequency is expected to increase as the planet continues to warm.
Additionally, when forests burn, they release carbon stored in trees and soil. As these fires grow in size and occur more frequently, they emit more carbon, exacerbating climate change and fueling the vicious cycle of “fire-climate feedback.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
