Fire weather waves drive extreme fires globally

Yin, Cong; Abatzoglou, John T.; Jain, Piyush; Sadegh, Mojtaba; Flannigan, Mike D.; Jones, Matthew W.

doi:10.1038/s43247-026-03858-5

Fire weather waves drive extreme fires globally

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Yin, Cong, Abatzoglou, John T., Jain, Piyush, Sadegh, Mojtaba, Flannigan, Mike D. and Jones, Matthew W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3480-7980 (2026) Fire weather waves drive extreme fires globally. Communications Earth & Environment. ISSN 2662-4435

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Abstract

We define fire weather waves as persistent extreme fire weather, which can intensify fire activity by sustaining exceptionally warm, dry, and windy conditions. Here, we use daily fire weather index, fire activity, and meteorological data to examine the impacts of fire weather waves on fires, as well as their patterns and trends across global terrestrial ecoregions. Fire weather waves account for only 4% of days but coincide with 26% of the area burned and nearly half of the top 1% most energetic fires in forested ecoregions. Compared with grassland and shrubland fires, forest fires exhibit a larger and more persistent increase in daily burned area in response to fire weather waves, particularly in Mediterranean forests. Fire weather wave frequency has significantly increased across most burnable lands during 1979–2024. Climate projections indicate that fire weather waves will increase throughout the 21st century. These findings underscore fire weather waves as an essential component of early warning systems to strengthen preparedness for extreme fires.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climatic Research Unit
Related URLs:	https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-0...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	10 Aug 2026 07:55
Last Modified:	11 Aug 2026 23:05
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/104058
DOI:	10.1038/s43247-026-03858-5

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