In 2019, the Arctic suffered the worst wildfire season on record, with as many as 400 wildfires being reported in Alaska alone.
The Arctic is warming at least two times faster than the global average rate.
Wildfires are common in the Arctic summer, however consistently high temperatures over the last number of years have made the fires worse. On July 30th 2019, Russia’s Federal Forestry Agency said that 2.7 million hectares of remote forest in Siberia was currently burning. Sign these petitions to demand global aid to help fight these raging fires!
These wildfires release harmful pollutants and toxic gases into the atmosphere. Soot plays a role in global warming, as well as being harmful to humans and animals when it enters the lungs and bloodstream. Nasa scientists say the soot absorbs sunlight and warms the atmosphere. If it falls on ice or snow, it reduces reflectivity and can trap more heat, speeding up the melting process.
between 1 June and 21 July, almost the equivalent of the carbon output of Belgium in 2017.
The 2019 wildfire season was especially unusual because of the location and intensity of the fires. The fires were most severe in Alaska and Siberia, with some of the fires being large enough to cover almost 100,000 football pitches or the entirety of Lanzarote. (
The Gwich’in Council International (GCI), a body representing the rights of 11,000 people in the indigenous region of Alaska, has submitted a proposal to increase cooperation among Arctic states at the Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) working group of the Arctic Council in June. (