Wildfire Around The World: A Threat Without Borders

Firefighters in the western United States face a shared struggle with others around the world who battle wildfires as the “seasons” for these events seem to grow longer and more destructive every year.

Climate change and human encroachment on wildlands—driven by property development and agriculture—have fostered conditions that increase fire risk in disparate regions, from California, to Australia, to the Amazon rainforest, to Siberia.

The United States has experienced record-breaking wildfire seasons over the past few years.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 8 million acres burned in 2018, with nearly 2 million in California alone. Long-term trends continue upward, although 2019 showed a drop to around 4 million acres burned.

The BBC reported that, in a crisis that peaked from December 2019 into January 2020, fires through January 10 consumed some 15.6 million acres across Australia, including 8.9 million in New South Wales, where more than 1,800 homes were destroyed.

By early January 2020, in Europe’s current wildfire season, 10 of 20 European Union countries already approached or exceeded their 2008—2019 season averages for acreage burned, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.