Firefighters in southern France are struggling to control a large wildfire, as similar blazes occur in Spain and Portugal. Human activity often causes these wildfires, whether intentionally for agriculture or unintentionally through discarded materials. Climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions, is significantly accelerating wildfire risks. From 2001 to 2024, wildfires destroyed 152 million hectares of trees, representing one-third of global tree loss. The United Nations predicts wildfires will rise by 14% by 2030 and 30% by 2050. Healthy forests provide natural protection against extreme fires, making forest conservation essential.
"Climate change has created a rapidly changing situation in which it is getting hotter and hotter worldwide and drier and drier in many places, and the risk of forest fires is increasing," said Albert Wodtke, a forest expert at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Between 2001 and 2024, wildfires wiped out 152 million hectares of trees, which comprises a third of the loss of all trees globally during the same period.
Extreme wildfires worldwide will increase by about 14% by 2030, and 30% by 2050 according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Healthy forests offer natural fire protection. The best protection against extreme fires is natural forests, says Sven Selbert, responsible for forest conservation and sustainable forest use at NABU.
Collection
[
|
...
]