Climate change magnifies forest fires and harms health

Increased heat and droughts means climate change increases the effects of large forest fires. This damages not only the environment and nature, but also increasingly people's health owing to the associated air pollution. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Climate change has led to more burnt areas in recent decades, according to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, in which the federal technology institute ETH Zurich was involved. From 2003 to 2019, almost 16% more forest burned compared to a scenario without climate change, writes the team led by Seppe Lampe from the Free University of Brussels. According to the researchers, Australia, South America, western North America and Siberia were particularly affected. Overall, the area burned decreased by 19% during this period. However, this is due to the fact that more and more forest areas were used for agriculture or other purposes. As a result, there are fewer areas that could burn.