Extreme wildfire impacts to increase dramatically by 2100, UN says

Over the past decade the intensity and impact of wildfires has grown worldwide, with 2020 a particularly devastating year that seemed to herald the arrival of an apocalyptic new era.

The United Nations for the first time has assessed the global risk of catastrophic wildfires, finding that as climate change accelerates more of the world will burn, with disastrous consequences for human health, the economy and biodiversity.
 

“The heating of the planet is turning landscapes into tinderboxes, while more extreme weather means stronger, hotter, drier winds to fan the flames,” wrote the authors of the report, released on Wednesday by the UN Environment Programme and the nonprofit GRID-Arendal. “Too often, our response is tardy, costly, and after the fact, with many countries suffering from a chronic lack of investment in