The world and its forests have a fire problem. 

Recent blazes have swept across southwestern Europe, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Wildfires in Canada burned forests and communities and choked major U.S. cities with smoke.  

Yet these are just examples of a broader, growing trend.  

WRI analysis shows that between 2001 and 2025, forest fires burned over twice as much tree cover each year as they did two decades ago — and over three times as much in the tropics.

The impacts ripple far beyond forests. Wildfire smoke is estimated to cause more than 1.5 million deaths each year. And fires have caused enormous economic damage — the Los Angeles fires in early 2025 alone resulted in about $140 billion in losses.  

But why are forest fires getting worse? What does climate change have to do with it? And what can we do to stop this trend? 

To understand what's driving fires across the world, take a deep dive into our recent research:

Increasing carbon emissions drive hotter, drier conditions, which dry out forests, making them more prone to fire. Larger areas burn as a result, releasing more carbon and fueling further warming in a climate-fire feedback loop.