Forest fires become increasingly devastating
A recent research paper published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution reported that the frequency at which extreme fires are occurring around the world has more than doubled over the past two decades, mainly due to human-caused climate change.
Using satellite records, scientists studied nearly 3,000 wildfires of tremendous “radiative power” between 2003 to 2023, from which they established a 2.2-fold increase in their occurrence over that period. Data shows that the intensity of the 20 most extreme blazes in each year had also more than doubled — a rate that “appears to be accelerating”. The increasingly tinder-dry conditions that fuel massive fires have been linked to a changing climate. Furthermore, forests also absorb carbon from the atmosphere and the loss of trees to fire releases that CO2 back into the atmosphere where it contributes to global warming.
Ha Anh
