As the Arctic warms, the nature of wildland fires in the region is changing.
Climate change is expected to further increase the length of the fire season, possibly create drier conditions and increase the number of lightning strikes1.
Fires in peat can smolder for months, years, or even decades. These holdover, or "zombie" fires emit a great deal of smoke and are difficult to extinguish1. However, these fires can also be self-limiting if they warm and re-wet the peat around them through melting of permafrost.
According to the Global Wildland Fire Information System2, the number of fires has more than tripled since 2018 in much of the Arctic.
In some areas where wildland fires were previously uncommon, more and larger fires are expected in the future1.
As Arctic temperatures rise, many areas of boreal and Arctic forests are drying out, creating ideal conditions for larger, more intense fires. But in some areas, we may see a shift from coniferous (pine) forests to deciduous (e.g. birch) forests, which can reduce fire intensity1.
The Arctic is warming at more than 3 times the rate of the rest of the world.
… making it possible for industry and agriculture to move further north.
Most wildland fires are sparked by human activity, even in the Arctic.
A warming Arctic has more lightning strikes, further increasing the likelihood of fires.
Once a fire starts, climate change can create conditions for especially intense fires on dry peatland and forests.
Arctic fires feed further warming. Burning peat creates big, smoky fires that release greenhouse gases, which trap even more heat
Black carbon from soot settles on snow and ice, absorbing the sun’s heat and increasing the rate of melting...
…Creating a warmer Arctic, and even greater fire risk.
In June 2019, Arctic wildland fires emitted 50 megatons of CO2, equivalent to Sweden's total annual emissions and more than the past eight Junes combined. Kasha Patel, NASA Earth Observatory
The Arctic Council is working with Arctic communities to prevent, respond to, and adapt to wildland fires in the Arctic.
CAFF
The Arctic FIRE project, led by Gwich'in Council International, aims to improve the understanding of fire ecology, impacts in Arctic States and to communities represented by the Permanent Participants, and to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildland fire. The project seeks to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic flora and fauna by mapping annual acreage burned, and developing an annual digital Arctic Fire Monitoring Journal that includes relevant Arctic fire ecology and fire-related Indigenous Knowledge research, and to evaluate the impacts of wildland fires on Arctic ecosystems, air quality, and climate change.
The Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme Working Group (AMAP) is continuing to monitor and assess the causes, climate/air quality and societal impacts of Arctic wildfires, including climate feedbacks.
EPPR
Effective wildland fire response can be supported by international cooperation. The Circumpolar Coordination on Wildland Fire Prevention, Preparedness and Response project seeks to:
The Norwegian Chairship of the Arctic Council (2023-2025) launched a Wildland Fires Initiative, which seeks to elevate this urgent issue on the Arctic Council’s agenda and beyond. The initiative aims to increase circumpolar collaboration and make information on wildland fires in the Arctic more readily accessible through public panels and outreach campaigns that will span across the Norwegian Chairship term.
Arctic communities have lived with fire for millennia, and they’re sharing their expertise. The Gwich’in Council International is leading much of the Arctic Council’s work to understand, respond to, and adapt to wildfires.
Gwich’in burn grass during early springtime in the North, when the meadows have thawed but there is still snow around the timber line. This was traditionally important because it increased the biodiversity of plant species growing in that area, fertilized the soil so that plants were more nutritious and increased the land’s carrying capacity of animals. There would be an increase in rabbits, and moose would have two or three calves instead of just one. It is also a carbon-neutral practice to burn the land during that specific time due to the low amount of carbohydrates on the soil. It is important to understand that if that same fire was lit just a month later, it could be extraordinarily destructive and destroy the rich structures of those plants, interfere with migrating animals and more.
It is important to gather information like this to understand how people have worked with fire in the past to better manage what we have going forward. It is not enough to talk about management regimes without talking about Indigenous management and techniques that have been successful in the North for thousands of years. [...] These practices don't need to be historical. Indigenous knowledge doesn't need to be historical. If we can find and understand more examples of Indigenous knowledge about wildfire, I'm absolutely certain it will be useful to all of us in a circumpolar and global context as the fires become not only an effect of climate change, but a global driver of it.
Norwegian Chairship Launches Initiative to Address Wildland Fires in the Arctic