---
title: "Research: Climate Change Is Indeed Making Wildfires Worse"
description: "A team of researchers confirmed that climate change is indeed making wildfires worse after analyzing 57 peer-reviewed papers published since 2013."
date: "2020-01-14"
modified: "2020-01-14"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/climate-change-wildfires-worse"
categories:
  - "Climate Change"
  - "Environment"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "australia"
  - "climate change"
  - "the digest"
  - "wildfires"
---

# Research: Climate Change Is Indeed Making Wildfires Worse

![A team of researchers confirmed that climate change is indeed making wildfires worse after analyzing 57 peer-reviewed papers published since 2013.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/climate-change-wildfires-worse.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ESA/Pierre Markuse\</em\>*

## Climate Culprit

A team of researchers from the University of East Anglia in the UK [say that an analysis](<https://phys.org/news/2020-01-climate-wildfires.html>) of 57 peer-reviewed papers corroborates that climate change is indeed making wildfires worse globally.

The timing is apt, because Australia is experiencing one of the worst wildfire crises in its recorded history, with [more than 10 million](<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/australia-million-acres-land-decimated-200110163811794.html>) hectares of the country burned down — fires so devastating, [according to experts](<https://www.inverse.com/article/62165-australia-fires-change-global-climate-patterns-worse>), that they have the potential to alter the environment around the world.

## Fire Season

According to the new [analysis](<https://sciencebrief.org/topics/climate-change-science/wildfires>), climate change is making wildfires more severe and frequently, thanks to frequent heatwaves and droughts.

"Overall, the 57 papers reviewed clearly show human-induced warming has already led to a global increase in the frequency and severity of fire weather, increasing the risks of wildfire," senior research associate and lead author of the review Matthew Jones said in [a statement](<https://phys.org/news/2020-01-climate-wildfires.html>).

## Mitigating Damage

Just a two degree Celsius increase in global warming could lengthen Australia's fire season up to 30 days, [*New Scientist* reports](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2229902-analysis-confirms-that-climate-change-is-making-wildfires-worse/>) — though current climate targets could mitigate that.

"Limiting global warming to well below 2 C would help avoid further increases in the risk of extreme fire weather," co-author Richard Betts from the University of Exeter said in the statement.

**READ MORE:** [Analysis confirms that climate change is making wildfires worse](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2229902-analysis-confirms-that-climate-change-is-making-wildfires-worse/>) \[*New Scientist*\]

**More on wildfires:** *[The Huge Australian Fires Could Change the Entire Earth’s Climate](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/huge-australian-fires-could-change-entire-climate>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)