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| 2019-2020 wildfire season | |
|---|---|
| Season | 2019–2020 |
| Year | 2019–2020 |
| Notable fires | Camp Fire; Kincade Fire; Cedar Fire; Black Summer; August Complex fire |
| Total area | ~10 million hectares (global regional estimates) |
| Fatalities | hundreds |
| Evacuations | millions |
2019-2020 wildfire season
The 2019–2020 wildfire season comprised an interlinked series of large wildfires across multiple continents, notably the Australian bushfires, the Amazon fires, and the California wildfires. The season saw unprecedented fire behavior driven by simultaneous extreme events affecting Australia, Brazil, the United States, Siberia, and the Mediterranean Basin, producing extensive loss of life, ecosystem damage, and socioeconomic disruption. International scientific bodies including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, and United Nations Environment Programme highlighted links to anomalous weather patterns and land-use pressures.
The season unfolded amid overlapping crises: the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season ("Black Summer") burned large areas of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, while the 2020 California wildfire season produced mega-fires in California, including the August Complex fire and the Creek Fire. Simultaneously, fires in the Amazon rainforest, Cerrado, and Pantanal in Brazil drew attention to agricultural expansion near Amazonas and Mato Grosso do Sul. Boreal and Arctic fires affected Siberia and the Arctic Circle, with hotspots in Yakutia and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The season intersected with the Northern Hemisphere fire season transitions and global climate anomalies such as the 2019–20 Australian megafire drought and regional heatwaves.
Atmospheric drivers included anomalous temperature and precipitation patterns identified by the World Meteorological Organization and attributed in part to influences described in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments. Strong ENSO variability, prolonged droughts in California, and record-high temperatures in Australia and Siberia reduced fuel moisture. Land-use change in Brazil linked to policies associated with the Bolsonaro administration and agricultural actors accelerated deforestation in Amazonas and the Cerrado. Fire ignition sources ranged from lightning documented by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites and European Space Agency remote sensing to anthropogenic causes related to land management, infrastructure failures near PG&E lines, and illicit burning tied to slash-and-burn practices used in Indonesia and Brazil. Ecosystem changes involving invasive grasses in California and altered fire regimes in Mediterranean Basin ecosystems further amplified spread.
Australia: The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season encompassed catastrophic events across New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, and South Australia, notably near Mallacoota and the Blue Mountains. Iconic areas such as the Gondwana Rainforests and Kosciuszko National Park were affected.
United States: In California, the August Complex fire became a complex of incidents in Mendocino National Forest and Shasta-Trinity National Forest, while the Creek Fire impacted Sierra National Forest areas. Pacific Northwest and Oregon fires, including those near Santiam Pass and Lebanon, produced major smoke events affecting Seattle and Portland.
Brazil and Amazon: Fires across the Amazon rainforest and Pantanal were concentrated in Amazonas, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul; events were reported near Manaus and Cuiabá. Satellite monitoring by Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais documented spikes in active fire counts.
Siberia and Arctic: Massive peat and boreal blazes in Yakutia and Irkutsk Oblast produced plumes tracked by Copernicus Programme satellites, affecting air quality across the Arctic.
Mediterranean and Africa: Fires in Greece, Turkey, Syria, and North African regions occurred amid heatwaves, while seasonal burning in Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo compounded regional emissions.
Human tolls included fatalities among residents, firefighters from agencies like the United States Forest Service and volunteer brigades, and mass evacuations affecting cities such as Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles, and São Paulo. Public health impacts were severe: prolonged smoke episodes led to record particulate matter concentrations measured by Environmental Protection Agency networks and hospitalizations in metropolitan areas. Ecosystem losses encompassed wildlife extinctions risk in regions like Kangaroo Island and habitat destruction in the Amazon. Economic damages affected sectors tied to tourism in Blue Mountains and agriculture in California. Global climate feedbacks included large carbon emission pulses estimated by researchers at Woods Hole Research Center and institutions collaborating with the Global Carbon Project.
Responses combined domestic and international firefighting resources: Australian fire services such as the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and international deployments from the United States Department of Defense and crews from Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa aided suppression. In the United States, utility-driven planned outages by PG&E and emergency declarations by the California Governor accompanied federal assistance coordinated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Policy debates involved land management agencies like the United States Forest Service and conservation organizations including World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy about prescribed burning, fuel reduction, and Indigenous fire stewardship practiced by groups in Australia and North America.
Post-season assessments by bodies including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and national commissions in Australia and United States prompted reviews of emergency preparedness and land-use policy. In Brazil, international scrutiny led to diplomatic engagement with the European Union and calls for strengthened enforcement by agencies such as the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. Recovery efforts involved restoration projects by academic institutions like Australian National University and reforestation initiatives coordinated with municipal governments in California. Legislative responses included proposals in the Australian Parliament and state legislatures in the United States addressing resilience, and increased investment in remote-sensing capacities by European Space Agency and NASA for early detection.
Category:Wildfires