Global fire outbreaks hit record high as ‘unprecedented’ heat extremes loom, scientists say

(Reuters)

SINGAPORE, May 12 – Climate change has driven record-breaking outbreaks ​of fire in Africa, Asia and elsewhere this year, with conditions expected to get worse as ‌the northern hemisphere’s summer approaches and El Nino weather patterns kick in, scientists warned on Tuesday.

Fires from January to April have already caused unprecedented levels of damage, burning more than 150 million hectares (370.66 million acres) of land, 20% more than the previous record, according to data compiled by ​World Weather Attribution, a research group that studies the role played by global warming in extreme weather ​events.

The researchers said temperature records could be broken this year, causing widespread drought as well as ⁠fires, with the impact of human-induced climate change compounded by an especially strong “El Nino” effect.

“Whilst in many parts ​of the world the global fire season has yet to heat up, this rapid start, in combination with the forecast ​El Nino, means that we’re looking at a particularly severe year materialising,” said Theodore Keeping, a wildfire expert at Imperial College London and part of the WWA group.

As much as 85 million hectares of land have burned in Africa so far this year, 23% more than the ​previous record of 69 million hectares, he said.

The unusually high fire activity in Africa is being driven by rapid ​shifts from extremely wet to extremely dry conditions, he said.

High rainfall produced more grass during the previous growing season, creating an abundance ‌of ⁠fuel to feed the drought- and heat-induced savannah fires of the last few months.