5 burning questions about wildfires answered

That’s the time of the year when wildfires spread faster than COVID-19 over the news (and not only there sadly). So, we thought of giving you some cool insights on this hot topic.

What are zombie fires?

Everybody knows what wildfires are. But not many of you might have heard about zombie fires. A.k.a. overwintering or holdover fires, these typically happen in cold countries like Canada, Alaska, or Siberia (yep, you read that right!).?

So how do they work??

Basically, after extinguishing a wildfire in summer, its leftover embers still smoulder until spring, hidden beneath the snow and fuelled by underground methane & peat. Then, when hotter temperatures come, the nearly dead yet deadly flames resuscitate from their hibernation.??

Does climate change add (fossil) fuel to the fire?

Global warming is cooking up the perfect recipe for the spreading of both zombie and lively blazes: Higher temperature and lower water. As a result, fire seasons now last longer across a quarter of our planet.?

Remember the heart-breaking images of koalas and kangaroos desperately trying to escape the Australian bushfires in 2020? Well, that was at least 30% more likely to happen because of climate change. Also, the dark cloud released by those bushfires was 3x larger than anything that’s ever been recorded on Earth.

What are the dangers of playing with wildfires?

Besides the invaluable biodiversity loss, wildfires increase flood risk. That’s because flames coat the soil with a waterproof layer, thus making it more difficult for rainfall to go through. The devastating force of these two elements, fire and water, will cause severe supply chain disruptions (e.g., facilities damage, transport limitations, power outages, etc.) for businesses. Not to mention the release of carbon emissions stored in the forests after being burned down. Just to give you an idea, in 2021 this meant spitting out around 50% of the EU's yearly carbon impact.

Will wildfires get worse?

Unfortunately, yes. According to a new study, global warming could cause up to 40 more days of high fire danger in Southern Europe in about 50 years. If that doesn’t light a fire under you, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) found that climate change & deforestation could cause a 14% increase in extreme blazes by the end of this decade.

What can you do before the fire goes wild?

Reversing climate change is imperative to clean up our smoky-looking future. As for ongoing and imminent wildfires, you should support native on-the-ground forest rangers, which are on the frontline of the fiery battle.

The good news is GFP is saving many birds (and not only those) with one wildfire-resilient stone: Forest conservation.

Check out our projects to quench the impact of wildfires.