Fires are amplifying climate change.

A diagram showing how fires can form a vicious cycle and intensify climate change

Forest fires are becoming more frequent and intense and contribute to global warming.

The forest fire feedback cycle

Higher global temperaturesMore drought & longer fire seasons
More carbon dioxide in the air
More forest fires

Diagram: The feedback cycle amplifying global temperatures and forest fires

In this forest fire feedback cycle:

  • Higher global temperatures tend to
  • Increase droughts and lengthen fire seasons, which tend to
  • Increase forest fire frequency and intensity, (a) releasing carbon dioxide during the fires, and (b) decreasing photosynthesis after the fires, which tend to
  • Increase carbon dioxide in the air, which tends to
  • Increase global temperatures, and then the cycle repeats.

Extreme fires

We are seeing an alarming surge in mega-fires, which destroy ecosystems that have thrived with fire for millennia. They burned with such intensity that they burned the trees and the forest floor, so the forest has not regenerated. These fires have transformed whole forests into entirely different landscapes.
Earth on Fire
(ABC TV: Catalyst: 3 June 2014)

I never thought I’d see the Australian rainforest burning. What will it take for us to wake up to the climate crisis? (The Guardian: 10 Sep 2019)

Wildfires can now occur year-round in the UK.
(New Scientist: 23 April 2019)

NASA Studies How Arctic Wildfires Change the World
(NASA: 13 August 2019)

Fires in Tasmania’s ancient forests are a warning for all of us.
(The Conversation: 29 January 2019)

The era of mega-fires: the crisis facing California and what will happen next
(The Guardian: 8 August 2018)

Huge wildfires in the Arctic and the far North send a planetary warning
(The Conversation: 14 August 2019)

Greek wildfires: dry winter and strong winds led to tinderbox conditions
(The Guardian: 25 July 2018)

Forests are becoming less able to bounce back from fires
(New Scientist: 11 March 2019)

The forest fire feedback cycle is reversible

This forest fire feedback can run in reverse: by radically expanding forests, we can draw down carbon dioxide and reduce extreme heat, drought, and fire. It’s one way to reduce the impact of climate change. We need to expand forests before drought and fires become too dominant.

Other amplifying feedback cycles driving global warming

Loaded August 2019: Updated 28 March 2022