Wildfires
Wildfires are increasingly affecting communities, ecosystems and the atmosphere worldwide. Driven by weather, climate and human factors, they threaten lives, worsen air quality through smoke pollution and contribute to climate impacts.
Overview
Wildfires are uncontrolled fires that burn in forests, grasslands, shrublands and other natural landscapes. They are influenced by weather, climate, vegetation and human activities. While fire is a natural ecological process in many ecosystems, increasingly frequent and intense wildfires cause devastating impacts on lives, livelihoods, biodiversity, infrastructure, air quality and the climate. According to a UNEP report, extreme wildfires are estimated to increase by up to 14% by 2030 and 30% by 2050. Additionally, decades of satellites data captured by the NASA Earth Observatory instruments reveal that northern wildland fires are becoming significantly more frequent and widespread in the far north as rising temperatures and lightning strikes breach higher Arctic latitudes.
Wildfire impacts extend far beyond the burned area. Fires release large amounts of particulate matter and trace gases into the atmosphere, generating smoke plumes that can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres across national boundaries. These emissions worsen air quality, reduce visibility and affect weather and atmospheric composition, exposing populations far from the fire to harmful pollution.
Advances in Earth observation, numerical weather prediction, atmospheric composition modelling and integrated fire danger rating systems have significantly improved the ability to detect active fires, forecast fire weather and predict smoke transport, enabling earlier warnings and risk-informed decision-making.
Impact
Wildfires affect every inhabited continent and are becoming one of the world's fastest-growing natural hazard risks. Their impacts extend well beyond the burned area.
Wildfires threaten lives, destroy homes and infrastructure, disrupt transportation and energy systems, and cause substantial economic losses. They also produce vast quantities of smoke containing fine particulate matter (PM2.5), chemicals that contribute to the formation of harmful ground-level ozone and other pollutants. These can surge 10 to 20 times normal limits during extreme fire events, persist in the atmosphere for days or weeks, travel across regions and continents, and according to the WHO Ambient Air Quality Guidelines, can easily breach safe breathing thresholds for downwind populations.
Exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and poses the greatest risk to vulnerable populations, including children, older persons, pregnant women and people with pre-existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions. Over 100,00 premature deaths are attributed exclusively to fine particle from wildfire smoke every year. This tracking, published via the Lancet Countdown co-sponsored network, logged a peak of 154,000 deaths during extreme fire activity. Smoke episodes can also overwhelm health systems, reduce visibility, disrupt aviation and transportation, and affect agriculture, tourism and outdoor activities.
Wildfires also have profound environmental consequences. They can damage forests, peatlands and biodiversity, alter watersheds, increase soil erosion and contribute to flooding and landslides after fires. At the same time, fire remains an important ecological process in many ecosystems, supporting regeneration and biodiversity when it occurs naturally.
WMO's response
By advancing fire weather forecasting, smoke prediction and impact-based early warning systems, WMO helps countries reduce the risks that wildfires pose to people, ecosystems, infrastructure and public health.
Through the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme, WMO coordinates the Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution Warning Advisory and Assessment System (VFSP-WAS), an international partnership that provides coordinated observations, forecasts and assessments of vegetation fires and smoke pollution. VFSP-WAS strengthens countries' capacity to deliver timely information on fire danger, smoke dispersion and air quality impacts, contributing to more effective early warning and health protection.
WMO is also a key partner of the Global Fire Management Hub. The Hub brings together international organizations, scientific institutions and operational agencies to strengthen capacity within countries for Integrated Fire Management (IFM) through knowledge sharing, capacity development, fire risk assessment, early warning and policy support.
WMO has also established a dedicated Task Team on Fire Weather Services, to advance a globally coordinated approach to wildfire and smoke early warning services, supporting the development of integrated, multi-hazard early warning systems worldwide. Through this initiative, WMO is strengthening international collaboration, improving access to critical data and forecasting products and enhancing resilience to reduce vulnerability to wildfires and smoke pollution.
Together, these activities contribute to the Early Warnings for All initiative and strengthen international cooperation to improve wildfire risk management, reduce smoke-related health impacts and build more resilient communities.
