Forest fires are shifting north and intensifying – here’s what that means for the planet

Global carbon emissions from forest fires have increased by 60% over the past two decades, with the largest contributions coming from fires in Siberia and western North America.

Stefan H Doerr, Professor of Geography and Director of the Centre for Wildfire Research, Swansea University • conversation
Oct. 17, 2024 ~8 min

Forests destroyed by wildfires emit carbon long after the flames die – new study

Carbon loosed by a 2018 fire season in Sweden could take 40 years to return to trees and soil.

Julia Kelly, Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University • conversation
Aug. 5, 2024 ~7 min


Extreme wildfires have doubled in just 20 years – here’s the science

Satellites used satellite sensors to identify the 0.01% ‘most extreme’ fires worldwide.

Cristina Santín, Honorary Associate Professor, Biosciences, Swansea University • conversation
June 27, 2024 ~5 min

Sweden has vast ‘old growth’ forests – but they are being chopped down faster than the Amazon

Research suggests these forests could disappear by the 2070s.

Pep Canadell, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Environment; Executive Director, Global Carbon Project, CSIRO • conversation
March 13, 2024 ~5 min

The world's boreal forests may be shrinking as climate change pushes them northward

How will Earth’s vast boreal forests look in a warmer world? Combining satellite-based research with fieldwork shows that the planet’s largest wilderness may be changing in unexpected ways.

Roman Dial, Professor of Biology and Mathematics, Alaska Pacific University • conversation
Nov. 3, 2023 ~11 min

Wildfires are much worse than a sign of climate change, says expert

Loretta Mickley, a Harvard wildfire expert, says wildfires are not just a symptom of climate change, but with the increased burning of millenia-old global peat stores, have the potential to worsen warming.

Alvin Powell • harvard
Aug. 23, 2023 ~9 min

Extreme wildfires are turning the world's largest forest ecosystem from carbon sink into net-emitter

New research shows boreal forests comprised 23% of global wildfire emissions in 2021, up from 10% in a typical year.

Stefan H Doerr, Professor of Geography and Director of the Centre for Wildfire Research, Swansea University • conversation
March 3, 2023 ~6 min

Alaska on fire: Thousands of lightning strikes and a warming climate put Alaska on pace for another historic fire season

Fires today are hotter and more destructive, thanks in part to a warming climate.

Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist, University of Alaska Fairbanks • conversation
July 6, 2022 ~7 min


As extreme fires transform Alaska's boreal forest, deciduous trees put a brake on carbon loss and how fast the forest burns

A new study finds more deciduous trees like aspen are growing in after severe fires in the region, and that has some unexpected impacts.

Xanthe Walker, Assistant Research Professor, Northern Arizona University • conversation
April 15, 2021 ~8 min

As extreme fires transform Alaska's boreal forest, more aspen are coming in – that has an impact on future fires and the climate

A new study finds more deciduous trees like aspen are growing in after severe fires in the region, and that has some unexpected impacts.

Xanthe Walker, Assistant Research Professor, Northern Arizona University • conversation
April 15, 2021 ~8 min

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