ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Evia, Greece - 13 August 2019
1. Various of wildfires around Makrimalli village
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Melbourne, Australia - 16 February 2022
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Dowdy, climate scientist, University of Melbourne, co-author of wildfires section of UN Frontiers report:
"The report shows how wildfire risks are increasing around the world, including due to human caused climate change, shows these trends towards more unprecedented fire conditions, including more extreme fires and longer fire seasons. And it's scary to see these changes already impacting on the world. And then also even more scary to think about how these increases in fire risk are projected to occur into the future, getting more extreme due to greenhouse gas emissions."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Plumas National Forest, California, US - 8 July 2021
3. Various of wildfires burning in forestland in far Northern California
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Melbourne, Australia - 16 February 2022
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Dowdy, climate scientist, University of Melbourne, co-author of wildfires section of UN Frontiers report:
"The increase in the dangerous fire weather conditions is driven in part through increasing temperatures, and that can influence also the relative humidity of the air, and that can help dry out some of the vegetation and that can lead to more fuel that's dry and available for fires to burn around the world."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Near Vila Nova Samuel, Brazil - 26 August 2019
5. Various of wildfire and firefighters near the Jacunda National Forest Reserve
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Melbourne, Australia - 16 February 2022
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Dowdy, climate scientist, University of Melbourne, co-author of wildfires section of UN Frontiers report:
"This includes regions that are fire prone, but also regions that didn't used to have fires. We're now seeing more fires starting to come into those regions as well."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: New South Wales, Australia - 4 January 2020
7. Various of fire in bushland next to major highway north of Moruya
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Melbourne, Australia - 16 February 2022
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Dowdy, climate scientist, University of Melbourne, co-author of wildfires section of UN Frontiers report:
"In some very extreme fires, the fire plume can actually generate a thunderstorm within it. And these are some of the most extreme fire behaviour and fire atmosphere interactions that we've observed. This can actually also include the fire-generated thunderstorm making new lightning that can ignite a new fire far ahead of the fire front."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Siliana, Tunisia - 11 August 2021
9. Various of wildfire and firefighting in forest
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Melbourne, Australia - 16 February 2022
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Dowdy, climate scientist, University of Melbourne, co-author of wildfires section of UN Frontiers report:
"To avoid disastrous impacts, our ability to prepare for the extreme fires must keep up with the rate of climate change accelerating that threat. So by highlighting this point, we hope that groups around the world can work towards enhanced climate change adaptation, the changing fire risks, as well as through reducing greenhouse gases to slow the rate of global warming."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Milas, Turkey - 5 August 2021
11. Various of wildfire and firefighters in forest
LEAD IN:
Today (28 February), a wide-ranging report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is expected to be published.
The United Nations released another on 17 February which specifically warns that wildfires are becoming more severe.
They predict the blazes will become more frequent and include areas previously unaffected by fires as a result of climate change.
STORY-LINE:
Undergrowth burns and smoke fills the sky in Evia, Greece.
Wildfires are a normal part of nature's cycle.
But climate change is distorting the phenomena into something more dangerous.
A new Frontiers report published by the UN Environment Programme predicts the blazes will become more frequent, more severe and will happen in places where wildfires did not previously occur.
"The report shows how wildfire risks are increasing around the world, including due to human caused climate change, shows these trends towards more unprecedented fire conditions, including more extreme fires and longer fire seasons," says Andrew Dowdy, a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne and co-author of wildfires section of UN Frontiers report.
"It's scary to see these changes already impacting on the world. And then also even more scary to think about how these increases in fire risk are projected to occur in the future, getting more extreme due to greenhouse gas emissions."
In the US, the Biden administration has crafted a $50 billion plan to tackle catastrophic wildfires that have torched areas of the US West.
Officials want to more than double the use of controlled fires and logging to reduce trees and other vegetation that serves as tinder in the most at-risk areas. Only some of the work has funding so far.
"The increase in the dangerous fire weather conditions is driven in part through increasing temperatures, and that can influence also the relative humidity of the air, and that can help dry out some of the vegetation and that can lead to more fuel that's dry and available for fires to burn around the world," says Dowdy.
The Frontier report states that every year between 2002 and 2016, an average of 423 million hectares (4.23 million square kilometres) burned across the world.
"This includes regions that are fire prone, but also regions that didn't used to have fires. We're now seeing more fires starting to come into those regions as well," says Dowdy.
As the fires get fiercer, they are triggering dangerous weather conditions that cause the blazes to spread even further.
"In some very extreme fires, the fire plume can actually generate a thunderstorm within it. And these are some of the most extreme fire behaviour and fire atmosphere interactions that we've observed. This can actually also include the fire-generated thunderstorm making new lightning that can ignite a new fire far ahead of the fire front," explains Dowdy.
As well as climate change, deforestation, expanding urban environments, and the suppression of natural fire, is making severe wildfires more common.
The fires also impact human health, as they emit pollutants like black carbon and particulate matter which is carried downwind for long distances.
The UN report is calling for investment in reducing the risks of wildfires, better prevention and management strategies, and improved use of satellites, radar and lighting detection to monitor the fires.
"To avoid disastrous impacts, our ability to prepare for the extreme fires must keep up with the rate of climate change accelerating that threat. So by highlighting this point, we hope that groups around the world can work towards enhanced climate change adaptation, the changing fire risks, as well as through reducing greenhouse gases to slow the rate of global warming," says Dowdy.
This is the fourth edition of the Frontiers report which was first published in 2016. It's titled 'Noise, Blazes and Mismatches: Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern'.
Its release comes days before the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly.
