Despite an increase in the frequency and severity of wildfires globally, however, the amount of area burned by wildfires each year has gone down over the last few decades.

Climate change has increased the wildfire season by roughly two weeks on average globally, mostly by enhancing the availability of fuel through heat and dry conditions. The average wildfire season in Western US is now 105 days longer, burns six times as many acres, and sees three times as many large fires – fires that burn more than 1,000 acres compared to the 1970s, according to Climate Central.

A 2017 paper published in Science found that global burned area declined by approximately 25% over the past 18 years, despite the influence of climate. The phenomenon can be explained by a decline in burn rates in grasslands and savannas as a result of the expansion and intensification of agriculture.

The past nine years have been the hottest on record. 2023 was the hottest year globally, with global average temperatures at 1.46C above pre-industrial levels. 2024 is now on track to be even hotter.

Meanwhile, wildfires in southeast Asia were generally below average, in line with the declining trend seen in the last two decades. Europe’s season was also “close-to-average” aside from some “significant” episodes in Portugal, North Macedonia, and Greece.

Above-average wildfire activity was recorded throughout northern South America during the first six months of the year. Bolivia, Guyana and Suriname endured the most intense wildfires in at least two decades “by a large margin,” while carbon emissions from wildfires reached a record yearly high in Venezuela, the EU agency said.