Climate change made summer wildfires 10 times more likely, scientists say

Since the start of the year, more than 1 million hectares have burned in Europe, making 2025 the worst year of wildfires on record in the region, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

In Greece, for instance, “It’s been the third consecutive summer where we’re seeing a catastrophic fire season,” said Apostolos Voulgarakis, chair of the wildfires and climate department at the Technical University of Crete, and who contributed to the analysis. There aren’t necessarily more fires, he explained, but the ones that ignite tend to be bigger, and the fire season longer.

“When vegetation is dry and winds are high, a single ignition, regardless of its source, can rapidly turn into a hard-to-control wildfire,” added Bikem Ekberzade, a researcher at the Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences at Istanbul Technical University who also contributed to the study. “And in a warming world … more severe and fatal fires could soon become the norm,” she warned.

As part of a feedback loop, these fires are also increasing planet-warming emissions.

The burning is estimated to have already released 38.4 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere this year — equivalent of the annual emissions of a country like Slovakia — which is further contributing to climate change.

The study showed that heat waves and ongoing drought exacerbated particularly dry weather conditions across vast parts of southeastern Europe. Combined with strong winds, this made the wildfires more intense and therefore more difficult to fight.