{"id":31736,"date":"2026-01-14T17:13:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=31736"},"modified":"2026-01-14T17:13:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:13:55","slug":"why-forests-now-burn-at-twice-the-rate-they-did-two-decades-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/why-forests-now-burn-at-twice-the-rate-they-did-two-decades-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Forests Now Burn at Twice the Rate They Did Two Decades Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Forest fires are intensifying worldwide, with 2024 marking the most extreme wildfire season since records were taken. <a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/victorias-bushfires-rip-through-timber-plantations-as-losses-mount\/\">The warning comes as more than 400,000 hectares of forest burn across Victoria, Australia<\/a>\u2014the state\u2019s worst fire emergency since the 2019-20 Black Summer fires\u2014with climate scientists warning that the world is now losing forests to fire at an unsustainable pace. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ng-interactive\/2026\/jan\/13\/mapped-how-the-world-is-losing-its-forests-to-wildfires\">That is according to new data published in today\u2019s Guardian<\/a>, showing that wildfires are burning deeper into dense forests than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wri.org\/insights\/global-trends-forest-fires\">published by the World Resources Institute (WRI)<\/a>, reveals that fires are now destroying more than twice as much tree cover as they did two decades ago. from the World Resources Institute (WRI) reveals that fires are now destroying more than twice as much tree cover as they did two decades ago. In 2024 alone, 135,000 km\u00b2 of forest burned \u2014 an area larger than England. Yet the surge is concentrated in forests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to research from the University of Tasmania\u2019s Fire Centre Research Hub \u2014 one of the world\u2019s leading groups on long\u2011term global fire trends \u2014 shows that total global burned area has actually declined for decades as agricultural expansion slowed savanna fires, even as forest fires surged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">DEVELOPING: There are catastrophic fire conditions in Victoria with three people unaccounted for and multiple homes destroyed, as bushfires rage across the state. It is the worst fire day since the Black Summer bushfires, and Melbourne is right now the hottest city on earth.\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QBUROpD7a3\">pic.twitter.com\/QBUROpD7a3<\/a><\/p>&mdash; 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/7NewsMelbourne\/status\/2009501632002970006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 9, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The shift is global in scale. <\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p>For the first time, major fires burned simultaneously across tropical rainforests, including the Amazon, and boreal forests in Canada and Russia. Russia has lost 623,208 km\u00b2 of forest to fire since 2001, an area the size of France. Three of its worst seasons have occurred since 2020, with 2021 the most severe, when 45,000 km\u00b2 burned across Siberia and the Far East. Flames pushed deep into permafrost regions inside the Arctic Circle, with satellites recording the northernmost wildfire ever observed. As permafrost thaws and soils dry, scientists warn of an \u201cabrupt increase\u201d in Arctic fire activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Canada has lost 402,664 km\u00b2 of forest since 2001 \u2014 roughly the size of Norway. Its 2023 season was the most destructive on record, with 78,000 km\u00b2 burned and smoke drifting across continents. The toxic haze contributed to 82,000 premature deaths worldwide, with Europe absorbing one\u2011quarter of the mortality. Temperatures in the boreal north climbed 10\u00b0C above average, pushing fires into previously unburnt regions and overwhelming firefighting capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Wildfire smoke from British Columbia, Canada, is seen in this observation from the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VIIRS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VIIRS<\/a> instrument onboard the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NOAA20?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NOAA20<\/a> satellite on Sept. 17, 2025.<br><br>Several fires are highlighted as red dots, with smoke drifting northeast across the northwestern U.S. and southwestern Canada. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8HiK26ZZ2S\">pic.twitter.com\/8HiK26ZZ2S<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) (@JPSSProgram) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JPSSProgram\/status\/1969069432149250356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Further south, Brazil has lost 129,007 km\u00b2 of forest to fire since 2001. In 2024, 23,000 km\u00b2 burned \u2014 the Amazon\u2019s second\u2011worst fire year on record. The states of Par\u00e1, Rond\u00f4nia and Mato Grosso were hit hardest, with flames penetrating Indigenous territories and protected areas. Extreme heat, El Ni\u00f1o\u2011driven drought and illegal deforestation combined to create explosive fire conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Australia has lost 65,883 km\u00b2 of forest since 2001 \u2014 a figure that does not include the current Victorian fires, which continue to expand. The legacy of the 2019\u201320 Black Summer remains stark: more than 3,000 homes destroyed, 30 lives lost and an estimated three billion animals killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Scientists warn that rising temperatures are changing fire behaviour.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p>The years 2023 and 2024 were both the hottest on record \u2014 and the years with the most forest area burned. Northern latitudes are heating faster than the global average, driving a surge in boreal fires: \u201cFire is a natural part of these ecosystems, but the traits that once helped them survive infrequent burns are now being overwhelmed as fires grow larger, more frequent, and more severe,\u201d according to James MacCarthy of WRI\u2019s Global Forest Watch, \u201cFires are increasingly burning in places that were historically too wet to ignite and rarely caught fire, like peat\u2011rich forests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The consequences extend far beyond the firegrounds. Forests normally act as carbon sinks, absorbing CO\u2082 and slowing global warming. But when they burn, they release centuries of stored carbon back into the atmosphere. In 2023 and 2024, forests absorbed only one\u2011quarter of the CO\u2082 they typically store. MacCarthy warns: \u201cWhen these forests and peatlands burn, they release carbon that has been locked away in trees and soil for hundreds of years, accelerating climate change and setting the stage for more fire.\u201d He noted that smoke from these fires can travel thousands of miles, \u201cpolluting the air for millions of people, while nearby communities face evacuations, health risks and mounting costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why are forest fires getting worse? Climate-Fire Feedback Loop Explained\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Za011sSHpic?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>According to the World Resources Institute, climate change is driving a dangerous escalation in wildfire behaviour. As the planet warms, fires are becoming more intense, fuelled by hotter, drier conditions that make ignition and spread far more likely. In turn, these fires release vast amounts of carbon, accelerating the very warming that drives them \u2014 a vicious \u201cclimate\u2013fire feedback loop.\u201d<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In South America, Bolivia has lost 31,328 km\u00b2 of forest to fire since 2001. Last year was its worst season on record, with more than 10,000 km\u00b2 burned \u2014 double the previous high. Yet the Indigenous\u2011managed territory of Charagua Iyambae largely avoided catastrophe thanks to early\u2011warning systems, satellite monitoring and rapid\u2011response fire management. The 12,000 km\u00b2 \u00d1embi Guasu protected area \u2014 home to jaguars, giant armadillos and tapirs \u2014 remained mostly intact. Even so, fire pressure is rising. In September, the territory declared a disaster after flames breached the protected area, only to be extinguished by rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scientists warn that without decisive action, the world risks locking in a cycle of more fires, less carbon absorption and accelerating climate change. As Calum Cunningham of the University of Tasmania said: \u201cMassive forest fire seasons threaten to reshape the atmosphere by releasing huge amounts of CO\u2082, which could create a feedback loop \u2013 more warming, worse fire weather, more fire. That\u2019s the ultimate fear.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forest fires are intensifying worldwide, with 2024 marking the most extreme wildfire season since records were taken. The warning comes as more than 400,000 hectares of forest burn across Victoria, Australia\u2014the state\u2019s worst fire emergency since the 2019-20 Black Summer fires\u2014with climate scientists warning that the world is now losing forests to fire at an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"default","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[80,51,52,50,33,53,32,45,44,31,56],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[69],"class_list":{"0":"post-31736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-americas","9":"category-asia","10":"category-australia","11":"category-editors-picks","12":"category-europe","13":"category-global-news","14":"category-sustainability","15":"category-sustainable-forest-management","16":"category-top-stories","17":"category-victoria"},"authors":[{"term_id":69,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"woodcentral","display_name":"Wood Central","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MASTER-BRAND-MARK_POS_RGB-e1676449549955.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MASTER-BRAND-MARK_POS_RGB-e1676449549955.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31738,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31736\/revisions\/31738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31736"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=31736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}