Dynamic Earth: Wild Fire

A wildfire is an unplanned fire that burns in a natural area such as a forest, grassland, or prairie. Wildfires are often caused by human activity or a natural phenomenon such as lightning, and they can happen at any time or anywhere.

In just seconds, a spark or even the sun's heat alone sets off an inferno. The wildfire quickly spreads, consuming the thick, dried-out vegetation and almost everything else in its path. What was once a forest be­comes a virtual powder keg of untapped fuel.

Wildfires can burn millions of acres of land at shockingly fast speeds, consuming everything in their paths. These rolling flames travel up to 14 miles an hour, which converts to about a four-minute-mile pace, and can overtake the average human in minutes.

California is bracing for the possibility of another devastating fire season. After two years of drought, the soil moisture is depleted, drying out vegetation and making it more prone to combustion.

According to the U.S. National Park Service, almost 85% of all wildfires are started by people. Whether it be a campfire someone turned their back on, a dropped cigarette, arson, or a mechanical failure, people start an average of over 60,000 wildfires in the U.S. every year that burn an average of 2.4 million acres of land.

Since the 1980s, the size and intensity of wildfires in California have notably increased. Fifteen of the 20 largest wildfires in California history have occurred since 2000, and ten of the most costly and destructive fires to life and property in the state have occurred since 2015.

The 2020 California Wildfire season is here, and the American Red Cross of Central California encourages everyone to be prepared for wildfires.

UK researchers have revealed Australia's Black Summer bushfires likely damaged the ozone layer and caused the highest temperatures in the stratosphere in 30 years.

They can start with just a spark and can burn for months, affecting landscapes and lives for years.

The 2019 to 2020 Australian wildfire season was historic. More than 42 million acres burned in an unprecedented outbreak of extreme fires, which produced lightning, launched smoky aerosols into the stratosphere and turned New Zealand’s glaciers brown with ash.

But what causes these bushfires and why has this bushfire season been so significant? The CSIRO has been undertaking bushfire research for almost 70 years. This factsheet, with advice from other specialist organisations, provides some insights.

Over 18 million hectares have burned in the Australian bushfire season 2019–2020 as of mid-January according to media reports, destroying over 5,900 buildings including over 2,800 homes. In addition to human fatalities, many millions of animals are reported to have been killed.

Record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought have fuelled a series of massive bushfires across Australia.

Experts say Amazon fires are caused mainly by illegal farmers, ranchers and speculators clearing land and torching the trees.

Brazil vowed last year to halt deforestation by 2030, yet the number of fires burning in the country's Amazon rainforest hit a 15-year high in June. Burning season began last month and the rate of forest clearing remains high.

Unfortunately, just like the state of California, Australia, and several European states, Brazil has endured record-breaking wildfires in 2021.

It is no accident that there are fires all across Brazil, and it is no accident that the fires this year are worse than last. In fact, the fires in 2020 are the worst in the last decade.

The Amazon is burning at its fastest pace in over a decade. Meet one scientist who’s trying to reverse the trend.

Amid the bleakness of 2020, scientists in Brazil concluded a particularly grim conservation study - attempting to count the animals killed by huge wildfires in the Pantanal wetlands.

In 2010, Brazil had 492Mha of natural forest, extending over 59% of its land area. In 2021, it lost 2.90Mha of natural forest, equivalent to 1.70Gt of CO₂ emissions.

Thousands of fires are ravaging the Amazon rainforest in Brazil - the most intense blazes for almost a decade. One group of nature lovers has taken matters into its own hands.

Unprecedented fires are blazing through the Pantanal, threatening numerous endangered species and the highly valuable ecosystem. The Rapid Response Facility, a joint initiative of UNESCO and Fauna and Flora International (FFI), is supporting firefighting activity in the Pantanal Biosphere Reserve to prevent fires from spreading into the Pantanal Conservation Area World Heritage site.