Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00793-zGlobally, fires in 2025 burned the second-lowest area on record since 2002 and emitted the third-lowest CO2 total. Yet, a third successive year of extreme wildfire emissions prevailed in Canada, and catastrophic fires in Los Angeles, South Korea and Europe killed over 90 people and forced over 300,000 evacuations.
