A wildfire rips through the boreal forest in Manitoba, Canada, in 2025 Anadolu via Getty Images The wildfires that have been raging in many places around the Arctic in recent years could be contributing much more to global warming than currently thought. It has been assumed that what’s burning is mostly recent plant growth, but…
An extreme drought that has gripped the Southeast for months helped fuel two large, destructive, human-caused wildland fires in southern Georgia in April 2026. The Pineland Road and Highway 82 fires together burned more than 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) as of April 28, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission. Satellite images of the fires captured…
Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second-largest city, lies within a network of narrow valleys in the country’s northern highlands. Though the historic city is known for panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, clear skies have become less common. In recent decades, smoke has increasingly darkened the skies during the dry season, particularly in March and April. A…
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station. Wildfires are burning across more than 27,000 acres in south Georgia, according to the Georgia Forestry Association. Governor Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency in 91 counties. One fire, the Brantley Highway 82 fire, began Monday night and…
Every state in the West is expected to face an above-normal threat of wildfire this summer, according to the latest projections, released Wednesday by the National Interagency Coordination Center. The government-run center publishes monthly reports predicting fire risk for the four months ahead, and the change since the March outlook is staggering. The agency denotes…
On the afternoon of March 12, 2026, a wildland fire ignited in Morrill County, Nebraska. Within 12 hours, high winds had propelled flames approximately 70 miles (110 kilometers) east-southeast across the prairie. The Morrill fire would burn over 640,000 acres (260,000 hectares) within a week, becoming the largest wildfire in the state’s history. This image…
WASHINGTON — About 100 of the nation’s most contaminated toxic waste sites are in areas prone to flooding and wildfires, a potential public health threat to millions of Americans in surrounding communities, the internal watchdog at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found. The EPA’s Office of Inspector General issued a trio of reports last…
