Study Finds 335 Million Hectares Burned in 2025 as Richer Regions Suffered Devastating Wildfires
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 1
Study Finds 335 Million Hectares Burned in 2025 as Richer Regions Suffered Devastating Wildfires
4 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 1
335 million hectares burned worldwide in 2025—the second-lowest total since 2002—but the worst damage hit wealthier regions including California, Canada, Europe and South Korea.
The study says land-use change in Africa helped curb large savannah fires globally, while climate-driven heat, drought, high winds and dry vegetation made fires more explosive where people and infrastructure were concentrated.
2025 disasters included a Scottish megafire that burned more than 100,000 hectares, Los Angeles' Palisades and Eaton fires, Iberian blazes topping 500,000 hectares, and South Korea's biggest and deadliest wildfire season on record.
Wildfires generated more than 38% of insured weather-disaster losses in 2025, underscoring what researchers call a widening gap between total area burned and real-world impacts.
The lower global burned area also cut fire CO2 emissions to their third-lowest on record, but Canada logged extreme wildfire emissions for a third straight year and North American boreal forests have emitted nearly 4 billion tonnes since 2023.
As less of the world burns, why are wildfires in developed nations becoming deadlier and more expensive than ever before?
Are Canada's vast northern forests, once a climate buffer, now becoming a permanent carbon bomb accelerating global warming?
With record-breaking insurance losses, are affluent communities from California to the Mediterranean becoming effectively uninsurable against fire?