10% of Earth's Land Is at Risk of Wildfire Disaster, Study Finds

In January, firefighters spent nearly a month battling more than a dozen wildfires across Los Angeles . Despite their best efforts, the two largest—the Eaton and Palisades fires—now rank as the second- and third-most destructive in California history, together burning 38,000 acres, torching 16,000 structures, and killing 31 people.

A large part of what makes this story so devastating is that it isn’t unique. All across the world—from Chile to Canada, Greece, Australia, Portugal, Algeria, and the U.S.—highly destructive, unruly disasters like the Palisades and Eaton fires are becoming the status quo . A new study published Thursday in the journal Science reveals the extent of this global surge, finding that areas of high wildfire risk close to human populations cover 10% of Earth’s