What Has Scientists 'Shaking in Their Boots' on Wildfires

It seems as if the world is afire this summer. But even as wildfires in Europe and North America grow more extreme, key worldwide burning statistics are at a record low, largely because Africa and Asia are controlling their fires more, per the AP. Experts say these seemingly opposite trends are happening at the same time because of what humanity is doing to the planet. "It does seem like a paradox because we're talking increases in fires, yet the global numbers have been going down and down. But they're both true," says fire scientist Mike Flannigan of Canada's Thompson Rivers University. Spain's wildfire is that country's largest on record at more than 193 square miles, while wildfires in Europe have burned just a bit under 2025's all-time high.

In Canada and the US this summer, land burned by wildfires is at least 25% higher than the 10-year average, and more than double what it was decades ago, per national wildfire centers. Entire chunks of the continent were choked by smoke, causing unhealthy air quality. Fires are worsening in terms of size, intensity, speed, and frequency, especially in the US, Canada, and Europe, says University of Colorado fire scientist Jennifer Balch. "Extreme wildfires are on the rise globally in different parts of the world. And that's the piece that ... has us shaking in our boots,'' Balch says. And yet the world went into July this year with record low global emissions from burning fires, a key measure of their prevalence, the European climate center Copernicus reports.

That's because fires in Africa and Asia are way down due to changing agricultural practices, fire management, and where people are moving to, says the agency's Mark Parrington. Copernicus calculates that this year's carbon emissions from burning are the lowest since satellites first measured them nearly 25 years ago—about half what they were in the early 2000s. On average, more than three-quarters of the global emissions from the burning of plant material comes from Africa and Asia, Copernicus stats show; less than one-eighth comes from North America and Europe. A bit more bad news: Fire activity is likely to get worse in the coming months due to the developing super-strong El Nino. More here.