Increased emissions lead to higher temperatures and more fire-prone conditions. More fires mean more emissions, fueling rapid climate change.

Fire seasons are complicating the COVID-19 pandemic. GFW fire data provides daily updates on where fires are burning around the world.

The Chuckegg Creek wildfire sparked in the province of Alberta, Canada on May 12, 2019. Over the next three months, the blaze burned across 280,000 hectares, forcing more than 10,000 people to evacuate their homes. On the Global Forest Watch(GFW) Fires platform, bright red fire alerts were visible blossoming out across the landscape. Chuckegg Creek […]

Australia’s bush fires are the worst in the country’s recorded history. Already, millions of acres have burned, creating dangerous levels of air pollution, displacing nearly 90,000 people and killing a billion animals. Global Forest Watch Fires sheds light on what’s happening in Australia and the impacts fires could have: 1) Australia’s fires are seriously unprecedented. The number of fire alerts in […]

Fires across Brazil caught the world’s attention this August, with fears that burning — and subsequent damage to the Amazon rainforest — would only intensify when peak fire season hit in September. However, Global Forest Watch (GFW) analysis of NASA data shows that fire alerts in the Amazon decreased by 34% between August and September. […]

Indonesia’s forest fires have made headlines globally over the past few weeks. This year’s forest fires have affected millions of people. Schools have closed in some areas due to unsafe levels of air pollution, while many people are suffering from respiratory illnesses. The haze has spread so far as to affect Singapore and Malaysia. While […]

Spurred by the media attention surrounding fires burning in the Amazon, people are starting to wonder if this intense heat is a global trend. A first glance at the Global Forest Watch (GFW) Fires map shows an aggressive splash of fire alerts across the globe, giving the impression that half the world is on fire. […]

The thousands of fires burning in the Brazilian Amazon got global attention this week, both in the media and online, where the hashtag #prayforamazonia earned more than 150,000 mentions in one day. But what can satellite data tell us about what is really happening in Brazil’s forests? Note: this analysis was conducted using fire data […]

In a small village in Riau, Indonesia, community leaders have detected a fire. According to active fires alerts on Global Forest Watch (GFW) Fires, there is one burning on a nearby peatland. With the current wind patterns, the village could soon be shrouded in a thick, toxic smog. But the alert has given the community […]