Increasing global human exposure to wildland fires despite declining burned area.
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| Title: | Increasing global human exposure to wildland fires despite declining burned area. |
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| Authors: | Teymoor Seydi, Seyd, Abatzoglou, John T., Jones, Matthew W., Kolden, Crystal A., Filippelli, Gabriel, Hurteau, Matthew D., AghaKouchak, Amir, Luce, Charles H., Miao, Chiyuan, Sadegh, Mojtaba |
| Source: | Science. 8/21/2025, Vol. 389 Issue 6762, p826-829. 4p. |
| Subjects: | Wildfires, Fire exposure, Human settlements, Urbanization, Population dynamics |
| Abstract: | Although half of Earth's population resides in the wildland-urban interface, human exposure to wildland fires remains unquantified. We show that the population directly exposed to wildland fires increased 40% globally from 2002 to 2021 despite a 26% decline in burned area. Increased exposure was mainly driven by enhanced colocation of wildland fires and human settlements, doubling the exposure per unit burned area. We show that population dynamics accounted for 25% of the 440 million human exposures to wildland fires. Although wildfire disasters in North America, Europe, and Oceania have garnered the most attention, 85% of global exposures occurred in Africa. The top 0.01% of fires by intensity accounted for 0.6 and 5% of global exposures and burned area, respectively, warranting enhanced efforts to increase fire resilience in disaster-prone regions. Editor's summary: Wildfires are increasingly destructive to people and property globally as a result of both increased fire activity and human development at the urban-wildland interface. Seydi et al. quantified the number of people exposed to fires (i.e., those living within areas that have burned) at the global scale between 2002 and 2021. Over that period, fire exposure increased by 40% even as burned area declined globally. Almost all of the increase in exposure was in Africa, which accounted for more than 85% of all people directly exposed to wildland fires over the study period. —Bianca Lopez [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Although half of Earth's population resides in the wildland-urban interface, human exposure to wildland fires remains unquantified. We show that the population directly exposed to wildland fires increased 40% globally from 2002 to 2021 despite a 26% decline in burned area. Increased exposure was mainly driven by enhanced colocation of wildland fires and human settlements, doubling the exposure per unit burned area. We show that population dynamics accounted for 25% of the 440 million human exposures to wildland fires. Although wildfire disasters in North America, Europe, and Oceania have garnered the most attention, 85% of global exposures occurred in Africa. The top 0.01% of fires by intensity accounted for 0.6 and 5% of global exposures and burned area, respectively, warranting enhanced efforts to increase fire resilience in disaster-prone regions. Editor's summary: Wildfires are increasingly destructive to people and property globally as a result of both increased fire activity and human development at the urban-wildland interface. Seydi et al. quantified the number of people exposed to fires (i.e., those living within areas that have burned) at the global scale between 2002 and 2021. Over that period, fire exposure increased by 40% even as burned area declined globally. Almost all of the increase in exposure was in Africa, which accounted for more than 85% of all people directly exposed to wildland fires over the study period. —Bianca Lopez [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00368075 |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.adu6408 |
