In some ecosystems, such as high-latitude forests, wildfires are a natural occurrence. These help maintain healthy ecosystems by depositing nutrients into the soil and boosting seed dispersal. However, in recent years, fire seasons have become more extreme and widespread. This includes forest ecosystems where fires are uncommon, such as tropical rainforests. Consequently, this has led to devastating results for communities, flora, fauna and other organisms that live in and around these areas.[...]

Cambridge, MA.: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2023

Extreme and more frequent heat waves dry out the landscape causing a small spark to trigger a huge fire. Such conflagration leads to higher emissions from burning forests further exacerbating climate change. It is a vicious cycle.

Inhaling smoke from forest, grass and peat fires causes about 340,000 premature deaths worldwide every year, according to new research. Reducing the number and extent of human-induced landscape fires could significantly improve air quality, mitigate climate change and reduce the rate of biodiversity loss, say scientists.

Increasingly large and severe wildfires threaten millions of forested acres throughout the West. Under certain conditions, mechanical thinning can address these hazardous conditions while providing opportunitiesto create renewable energy and reduce our carbon footprint but how do land managers decide whether thinning is a good idea? How do they decide where to begin, and what to do with the removed trees? Prioritizing treatment areas and determining the most effective techniques for fuel hazard reduction depends on various factors such as owner objectives, forest types, and the availability of processing facilities.

We monitored coarse woody debris dynamics and natural tree regeneration over a 14-year period after the 1991 Warner Creek Fire, a 3631-ha (8,972-ac) mixed severity fire in the western Cascade Range of Oregon. Rates for tree mortality in the fire, postfire mortality, snag fall, and snag fragmentation all showed distinct patterns by tree diameter and species, with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) more likely to survive a fire, and to remain standing as a snag, than other common tree species. Natural seedling regeneration was abundant, rapid, and highly variable in space. Densities of seedlings >10 cm height at 14 years postfire ranged from 1,530 to 392,000 per ha. Seedling establishment was not concentrated in a single year, and did not appear to be limited by the abundant growth of shrubs. The simultaneous processes of mortality, snag fall, and tree regeneration increased the variety of many measures of forest structure. The singular event of the fire has increased the structural diversity of the landscape.

By John Atcheson Common Dreams If past is prologue, the media will soon move on, leaving the greatest threat humanity has ever faced virtually uncovered Climate change catastrophe is upon us. We see it in the record-breaking floods from storms … Continue reading →

Forest fires are raging in the contaminated area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but officials insist there is no radiation threat.

The Guardian investigates fire in the state of Pará - to reveal the loopholes that allow deforestation to be legitimised

We found the first fire without looking, crackling and roaring on farmland beside the busy Amazon highway, the flames consuming a road sign with its name – BR-163 – lying in the grass. Trucks thundered past, ferrying soya and corn from the agricultural heartlands of Brazil’s central-west to the ports of Santarém and Miritituba. Nobody was around.

Every year fires roar across the Amazon, and in just a few months they will be here again. But last August the number of blazes reached a nine-year high, and sparked an international crisis for Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Months later, their traces hung over the forests in the Amazon state of Pará, leaving blackened logs and charred tree stumps where there was once rainforest.

It has a solar powered smoke alarm, GPS and is standing on guard, ready to phone it in.

Typically used to spot forest fires, one couple turns a fire lookout station into a simple but beautiful off-grid home.

Now in its sixth day, the forest fire threatens critical habitats and precious water sources.

President Donald Trump said Thursday Vladimir Putin 'appreciated' his offer to help with forest fires raging in Siberia, and that the two men did not discuss Russia's election interference.

The Council President warned Jair Bolsonaro's rampant deforestation agenda will likely prevent the agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc being struck.

Burning of the rainforest in southwestern Amazonia,  could release aerosols such as black carbon which may speed up the melting of the Andean glaciers, finds Rio de Janeiro State University.