Fires and drought

Updated: Mon, 12 Nov 2018

Western U.S. wildfires cost insurers up to $13 billion in 2020

As climate change brings hotter and drier conditions, losses from wildfires are surging, risk management experts say

Amazon losses help drive growing wildfires elsewhere in Brazil
As destruction of the Amazon continues, it threatens to cut off the "flying rivers" of water vapour that bring reliable rain further south By Fabio Zuker | Wed, 30 Sep 2020
Wealthy Californians hunt for private firefighters as state burns
With public firefighting resources now stretched to the limit, wealthy Californians are buying themselves an added layer of protection By Avi Asher-Schapiro | Fri, 28 Aug 2020
As Amazon blazes surge, firefighting proves a challenge
In Brazil's Amazon, capacity is lacking to battle growing numbers of runaway wildfires By Lucas Landau | Wed, 4 Nov 2020
Up in smoke? Argentina delta blaze sparks worry - and legal action
Smoke from fires roaring through a vast drought-dried wetland area has reached Buenos Aires, spurring a lawsuit and legislative action By Marcela Valente | Tue, 11 Aug 2020
'It burned everything': Fires surge on Brazil indigenous land
Fires are growing not just in the Amazon but in other indigenous territories as well, a new report says By Mauricio Angelo | Wed, 30 Sep 2020
In virus-hit Amazon, fire season threatens overtaxed health system
Smoke from Amazon fires drove more than 2,000 hospitalizations last year - and this year beds are already full with COVID-19 patients, health experts say By Fabio Zuker | Wed, 26 Aug 2020
Australia bushfires show clear climate-change fingerprint
New research warns wildfires may create unmanageable risks as temperatures continue to rise By Laurie Goering | Thu, 5 Mar 2020
As wildfires worsen, firefighters go high-tech to stay healthy
Tech giant IBM is helping test and roll out a low-cost device to monitor health risks for firefighters, developed by volunteers in Spain, as the threat of wildfires grows worldwide By Megan Rowling | Wed, 26 Feb 2020
analysis Burned by wildfire losses, insurance industry rethinks risks
Maintaining coverage as wildfires grow fiercer and more frequent will require lowering risks and finding new ways to fund policies for the most vulnerable, insurers say By Laurie Goering | Wed, 22 Jan 2020
analysis Scientists paint Australia fires as red alert on climate change
"The scale of this disaster is something I couldn't have imagined, and it's the same for a lot of people in Australia," says one climate scientist By Laurie Goering | Sat, 11 Jan 2020
Wildfire-hit countries in need of new strategies to tame threat
"If this is the 'new normal', then tweaking well-established approaches to risk management of wildfires will not make any difference," says science advisor By Laurie Goering | Thu, 16 Jan 2020
Carbon emissions from Australian blazes near Amazon fire levels
"People are not grasping the carbon consequences," of such huge fires, says an Australian environmental scientist By Michael Taylor | Thu, 9 Jan 2020
Indigenous tribes fear hard year ahead after Amazon fires
With Brazil nut trees and medicinal herbs lost to Amazon fires, indigenous communities say they face serious setbacks By Fabio Teixeira | Wed, 4 Sep 2019
Scientists warn forest fires could worsen coronavirus harm
Fires this year in tropical countries from Brazil to Indonesia "are very likely to exacerbate the presence and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic" By Megan Rowling | Wed, 17 Jun 2020
Indonesia ramps up community fire brigades as forests burn
Thousands of farmers have been trained to fight fires in a project aimed at saving tropical forests and carbon-rich peatlands in Indonesia By Michael Taylor | Tue, 3 Dec 2019
Children struggle to breathe as smoke chokes Amazon city
At Porto Velho health centres, lines of concerned parents waiting to get treatment for their children have lengthened as Amazon fires escalated By Fabio Teixeira | Mon, 2 Sep 2019
Mental health at risk as California wildfire threat grows
"This whole county has PTSD, depression. Everybody could use some counseling," says one survivor of California's Paradise wildfire By Ellen Wulfhorst | Wed, 20 Nov 2019
Wildfire threat darkens California dream, residents say
As more powerful wildfires threaten more people, the Golden State may be losing its shine, some residents say By Ellen Wulfhorst | Thu, 14 Nov 2019
Climate-fueled US wildfires take toll on those who fight them
"You have 200 homes destroyed. Five years ago, that would have been crazy. Losing 200 now was a win. It was a victory that no one died," says one firefighter By Ellen Wulfhorst | Fri, 8 Nov 2019
As wildfires worsen, Californians harness tech for help
To better protect themselves from wildfires worsened by climate change, communities are pulling together to share information By Ellen Wulfhorst | Mon, 11 Nov 2019
Spanish coders harness tech to track health risks for firefighters
A device that can monitor health threats to firefighters in real-time has received an award from IBM that will help roll it out more widely By Megan Rowling | Tue, 15 Oct 2019
Hit by wildfires and heat, Tunisia's youth join climate protests
Firsthand experience with surging climate risks are fueling an emerging youth protest movement in Tunisia By Layli Foroudi | Wed, 2 Oct 2019
Extreme 'devil winds' may worsen deadly California fires
Governor Jerry Brown has asked the U.S. president to declare a major disaster to bolster the emergency response By Reuters | Sun, 11 Nov 2018
Zimbabwe's farmers feel the heat of fires - and of price hikes
An extended dry season, wildfires and a lack of foreign currency suggest Zimbabwe's farmers face a tough growing season ahead By Marko Phiri | Tue, 30 Oct 2018