José V. (Pipo) Roces-Díaz

A study published in Science Advances has shown that areas affected by extreme wildfires – characterised by rapid spread and great difficulty in extinguishing them – have lower tree cover and reduced resilience compared to less intense fires, which may lead to long-term changes in vegetation. The team analysed 32.1 million hectares of coniferous forest in Canada and the western United States that were affected by fires between 2012 and 2023. Of this area, more than a third was burnt by extreme fires. In these cases, they observed that the faster the fire front advances, the greater the size and severity of the fire and the greater the distance from seed sources for the surviving trees, paving the way for long-term changes in vegetation.

Forest disturbances in Europe—including fires, insect pest outbreaks, and windstorms—could double by the end of the 21st century compared with the 2001–2020 period if emissions are not reduced. In the case of wildfires, the annual area burned could nearly triple. The Mediterranean region ranks among the most vulnerable, and almost 90% of Mediterranean forests could be affected by increased fires and pest outbreaks under higher warming scenarios. The findings are published in a study in the journal Science involving Spanish research centers such as CREAF, the CTFC and the University of Girona.

A US team has analyzed the evolution of the global population exposed to forest fires between 2002 and 2021. The study indicates that the number of people exposed has increased by 40%, despite a 26% reduction in the area burned. This is mainly due to the increase in the population living in urban-forest interfaces. 85% of exposures occurred in Africa, even though forest fire disasters in North America, Europe, and Oceania have received most of the attention, notes the study, which is published in the journal Science.