Worldwide, an estimated 440 million people were exposed to a wildfire encroaching on their home at some point between 2002 and 2021, new research shows. That’s roughly equivalent to the entire population of the European Union, and the number has been steadily rising – up 40% over those two decades.
With intense, destructive fires often in the news, it can seem like more land is burning. And in parts of the world, including western North America, it is.
Globally, however, our team of fire researchers also found that the total area burned actually declined by 26% over those two decades.
How is that possible?
We found the driving reasons for those changes in Africa, which has the vast majority of all land burned, but the total burned area there has been falling. Agricultural activities in Africa are increasingly fragmenting wildland areas that are prone to burning. A cultivated farm field and roads can help stop a fire’s spread. But more farms and development in wildland areas also means more people can be exposed to wildfires.
Read the full article on The Conversation
Suggested citation: Mojtaba Sadegh, John Abatzoglou, Seyd Teymoor Seydi. "Wildfire disasters are increasingly in the news, yet less land is burning globally – here’s why," 2025-08-22, https://theconversation.com/wildfire-disasters-are-increasingly-in-the-news-yet-less-land-is-burning-globally-heres-why-261072
