Why Wildfires are Becoming More Frequent

From New York City shrouded in toxic orange haze to wildfires crippling Maui’s tourism economy and tearing through Los Angeles neighborhoods, recent fires have disrupted lives, economies, and entire ecosystems.

Even wetland and tundra climate zones like Brazil’s Pantanal and Siberia have faced months-long infernos, devastating biodiversity, and compromising carbon sinks critical to global climate stability. In 2024 alone, the planet lost tropical forest at the size of 18 soccer fields per minute.

These fires are intensifying due to a combination of droughts, heat waves, and strong winds amplified by climate change. Once confined to dry, remote regions, fires are now spreading to densely populated urban centers, threatening infrastructure, health, and economic stability.

This article explores how wildfires ignite, what fuels their spread, and why investing in advanced wildfire management technologies is essential. We also highlight how Climate Tech solutions can help us detect and contain fires early, safeguarding people and ecosystems. 

What is a wildfire? 

A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that spreads rapidly through natural vegetation such as forests, grasslands, or scrublands. While often associated with remote landscapes, wildfires can also burn through urban areas, destroying entire neighborhoods and critical infrastructure.

Wildfires start when three conditions align: dry fuel (such as dead vegetation or underbrush), a heat source, and oxygen. Once ignited, a wildfire can move swiftly, changing direction without warning and even leap across roads or rivers when embers are carried by the wind. The intensity and spread depend on the land’s layout, the type and dryness of vegetation, and weather conditions like wind and heat.

Understanding the causes of wildfires is the first step in building effective prevention and mitigation systems. Fires must be studied in-depth to design strategies that prevent small ignition events from becoming large-scale disasters.

Naturally occurring wildfires

Lightning strikes are the most common natural cause of wildfires accounting for approximately 10 percent of global forest fires. When lightning hits dry vegetation, trees, or power lines, especially during periods of high heat and drought, it can ignite fires that burn out of control.

Other natural causes of fires include volcanic eruptions or intense heat from the Sun over dry and decomposing organic materials. As global temperatures continue to rise, vegetation dries out more quickly, increasing the likelihood that these natural triggers will spark severe fires.

Human-induced wildfires

Roughly 85 percent of wildfires in the U.S. stem from human activity caused by abandoned campfires, discarded cigarettes, burning debris, and deliberate arson. There are instances where failed electric grid infrastructure have triggered catastrophic events. The 2018 Camp Fire in California began with a fault in a power transmission line during high winds.

A more concerning trend is the way land-use changes are increasing wildfire risk. Large-scale deforestation, agriculture, and urban development are pushing human activity deeper into fragile ecosystems. As old-growth forests are cleared, fire-prone areas are left unmanaged, creating large fuel loads that can easily ignite and spread.

Why We Must Halt Wildfires

The urgency to stop wildfires extends far beyond immediate property damage or economic disruption. The true cost lies in the irreversible damage to natural ecosystems, public health, and the global climate. Here’s why this issue demands urgent attention:

• Wildfires are accelerating the decline of the world’s remaining natural habitats, many of which are already under stress due to mining, deforestation and agriculture. Forest fires now result in nearly 6 million more hectares of tree cover loss per year, an area roughly the size of Croatia. As these fragile ecosystems disappear, species that live in the habitat are under threat. Some of which are critically endangered and may never recover.
• Smoke from wildfires contains hazardous pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide, ozone, aromatic hydrocarbons, and lead. PM2.5 poses the greatest public health risk, contributing to premature deaths and worsening conditions like heart disease and cancer. Studies also link wildfire smoke to cognitive decline, mental health issues, and rising healthcare costs.
• Forests act as major carbon sinks, storing vast amounts of carbon in organic material like trees and shrubs, and in soil. Researchers have found that carbon emissions from forest fires have increased by 60% globally between 2001 and 2023 releasing 5 to 8 billion tonnes of CO2 annually. This can accelerate global warming as more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming.
• Wildfires impose heavy costs on public budgets, businesses, and communities long after the flames die down. In 2023 alone, these fires drove an estimated $6.8 billion in economic damages. The Los Angeles wildfire in 2024 has been pegged as the costliest blaze in US history with an estimated total damage and economic loss to between $135 billion and $150 billion. Beyond direct costs, wildfires disrupt agriculture through crop losses and supply-chain delays, reduced tourism, and long-term health impacts from smoke exposure.

Wildfires in Unfamiliar Regions

Wildfires are no longer confined to traditionally fire-prone areas. Over the past decade, regions once considered unlikely to burn—such as the Arctic, the Amazon, and parts of Europe—have witnessed an alarming rise in wildfire activity. This expansion signals a fundamental shift in global fire dynamics, driven largely by climate change and land-use pressures.

• Record-breaking wildfires in familiar zones: While regions like eastern Australia and the western United States typically experience seasonal fires, recent years have seen unprecedented fire severity and spread. The 2019–2020 fire season marked historic highs in both regions, overwhelming firefighting infrastructure and causing extensive ecological damage.
• Emerging hotspots in the Arctic: Areas historically resistant to wildfire, such as the Arctic tundra now seeing record-breaking blazes. The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, lengthening growing seasons, increasing vegetation density, and thawing permafrost—all of which heighten fire risk. Vegetation shifts and reduced summer precipitation are also contributing to increased fire severity and frequency in tundra and boreal forest zones.

• Rising emissions in non-tropical forests: Since 2001, wildfire-related carbon emissions in forests outside the tropics—particularly boreal regions of North America and Eurasia—have nearly tripled. These forests, once considered carbon sinks, are now turning into significant carbon sources.
• Amazon under severe stress: In 2024, wildfire activity surged across both South America. The Amazon region, already under prolonged drought since mid-2023, experienced its fire season early and intensely. Brazil and Venezuela recorded the highest wildfire-related carbon emissions globally, highlighting the vulnerability of one of the world’s most critical ecosystems.

As wildfires erupt in regions once thought immune like the Arctic, the Amazon, and parts of Europe, it has become clear that traditional firefighting alone is no longer sufficient. Climate change is amplifying fire risks and expanding their reach, demanding a more proactive, technology-driven response. Modern wildfire management offers an answer to this challenge, providing a comprehensive framework that goes beyond firefighting to include prevention, monitoring, and recovery.

What is Wildfire Management?

Wildfire management is the strategic process of planning, preventing, detecting, and suppressing fires to protect human life, infrastructure, and the natural environment. As wildfires become more frequent, intense, and difficult to predict, wildfire management has become a critical component of climate adaptation and risk mitigation.

Modern wildfire management aims to reduce the impact of worsening climate conditions by integrating prevention and response strategies that protect communities and ecosystems today and in the future.

At its core, effective wildfire management involves:

• Ignition prevention: Reducing the likelihood of fires caused by human activity, electrical faults, or natural triggers like lightning.
• Fuel management: Managing vegetation, dead wood, and other combustible material to limit fire intensity and spread.
• Fire behavior monitoring: Understanding how variables like wind, temperature, terrain, and fuel interact to influence wildfire dynamics.
• Ecological and public response: Factoring in the long-term ecological recovery process and the role of public awareness and preparedness.
• Post-fire recovery: Implementing strategies for landscape rehabilitation and ecosystem restoration after fire events.

Technology plays a central role in modern wildfire management. Satellite imagery and remote sensing provide real-time updates on fire location, size, and behavior. Machine learning algorithms analyze this data to model fire progression and identify high-risk areas. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with thermal imaging extend monitoring capabilities to remote or hazardous regions.

Wildfire management is no longer reactive. It is a proactive, data-driven system designed to minimize damage, protect ecosystems, and ensure long-term resilience in a changing climate.

Indigenous Fire Management and Prescribed Burning

Indigenous peoples have practiced controlled burning to manage forests and grasslands for millennia. This type of fire management involves deliberately setting small, controlled, fires during cooler months to reduce the buildup of dry fuel and prevent larger, more destructive wildfires later in the season. This practice reflects generations of knowledge in managing land where fire, people, and plants coexist. 

Today, modern wildfire management recognizes the value of these traditional practices through prescribed burning. This method involves carefully planned, controlled fires under safe weather conditions to meet specific land management goals such as reducing fuel loads or restoring ecosystems. Prescribed burning, when properly executed, can prevent extreme fire events and contribute to air quality and climate goals by reducing the intensity and scale of wildfires.

The Role of Climate Technology in Wildfire Management

As wildfires grow more frequent and destructive, the urgency to deploy scalable, effective solutions has never been greater. While traditional practices such as Indigenous fire management and prescribed burning remain vital, they operate best at smaller, localized scales. To address the escalating scale and complexity of wildfires, we must adopt a forward-looking, technology-driven strategy.

Governments and organizations must shift from reactive firefighting to proactive wildfire risk management. Climate technology offers an opportunity to strengthen preparedness, enhance early warning systems, and coordinate responses with greater precision.

The next Key Technologies Driving Effective Wildfire Management article explores the climate tech innovations that are transforming wildfire management, helping responders act with greater speed, accuracy, and coordination in the face of growing fire threats.

These articles are part of our Wildfire Management series and are drawn directly from our comprehensive Wildfire Management Market Snapshot Report. The report offers an in-depth analysis of the solutions landscape, key technologies, market size, and emerging investment trends shaping the future of wildfire response.