A report by the UN Environment Programme says https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/number-wildfires-rise-50-2100-and-governments-are-not-prepared climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more recurrent and powerful, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050, and 50 percent by the end of the century.

The report says that even the Arctic, formerly all but immune, faces rising wildfire risk.

Wildfires and climate change are mutually worsening.

Wildfires are made worse by climate change through increased drought, high air temperatures, low relative humidity, lightning, and strong winds resulting in hotter, drier, and longer fire seasons.

At the same time, climate change is made worse by wildfires, mostly by ravaging sensitive and carbon-rich ecosystems like peatlands and rainforests.

This turns landscapes into tinderboxes, making it harder to halt rising temperatures.

The publication calls on governments to adopt a new ‘Fire Ready Formula,’ with two-thirds of spending devoted to planning, prevention, preparedness, and recovery, with one-third left for a response.

Currently, direct responses to wildfires typically receive over half of the related expenditures, while planning and prevention receive less than one percent. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/number-wildfires-rise-50-2100-and-governments-are-not-prepared

Aljazeera/Agencies.