2026 is shaping up to be an exceptional year for unplanned wildfires, with hundreds of thousands of hectares burned. According to the European Forest Fires Information Service, 2025 was the worst year on record for burned land area, but France has already had six times more land burned in 2026 as the average for this time of year.

A fire needs three things: heat, fuel and oxygen. While unplanned and uncontrolled wildfires occur naturally in forests, grasslands and shrub lands, human actions are boosting all three components of the “fire triangle”. To live within the new and riskier fire landscape that is emerging throughout Europe, including here in Ireland, we need to understand how heat, fuel and oxygen are changing in our landscapes.

Climate change is increasing the likelihood of hot, dry weather conditions. This provides heat and makes the fuel – dry vegetation – more combustible. Drainage of cooler, waterlogged land for agriculture increases land surface temperature and makes oxygen more available in the soil surface, causing even peatlands to burn if they get dry enough.

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is the most important action we can take to reduce wildfire risk. The May heatwave in Ireland was attributed to human-caused climate change by the WASITUS project. As temperatures increase, climate change projections point to increased wildfire risk.

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Fire influences most land-based ecosystems on Earth.........

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