Africa's wildfire season is actually getting shorter, scientists think they know why
4 Articles
4 Articles
Africa's wildfire season is actually getting shorter, scientists think they know why
Africa is home to around 70% of the world's burned area—the total area of land scorched by wildfires each year—making it the planet's biggest wildfire hotspot. Yet despite this, satellite observations have revealed an unexpected trend over the past two decades: The amount of land burned across the continent has been steadily falling.
Climate change in many regions causes longer periods of drought and more intense heat waves, i.e. environmental conditions that are ideal for the formation of forest and land fires. In Africa, the areas destroyed by forest and land fires have nevertheless become smaller and no larger in the last two decades. It has now been decoded that changes in rainfall patterns are responsible for shortening the dry season. Beijing (China). Forest and land f…
While the rest of the world braces for longer wildfire seasons, Africa's fires have been quietly retreating for 20 years — and the reason has almost nothing to do with climate policy
Africa’s fire season — the great annual burn that turns the continent’s savannas into the largest source of biomass smoke on Earth — is getting shorter. And researchers now think they can explain why. According to recent research, the annual window during which fires sweep across sub-Saharan grasslands and woodlands has contracted measurably over the past two decades. The finding runs against the dominant global narrative of longer, more punishi…
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