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Comparing Lightning-Caused and Human-Caused U.S. Wildfires

Published

2 years ago

October 18, 2022

Gilbert Fontana

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Carmen Ang

comparing acres burned by human-caused fires versus lightning in the U.S.

Comparing Lightning-Caused and Human-Caused U.S. Wildfires

Each year, thousands of acres of land are scorched by wildfires across the United States. While most of these fires are triggered by natural causes such as lightning, some are unfortunately caused by human activity.

This graphic by Gilbert Fontana uses data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) to show the number of acres burned across the U.S. between 2001 and 2021.

Year	Acres burned (lightning-caused fires)	Acres burned (human-caused fires)
2021	4,101,884	3,023,759
2020	4,123,523	5,998,813
2019	3,447,038	1,217,324
2018	3,127,003	5,640,489
2017	5,195,610	4,830,476
2016	1,743,385	3,766,610
2015	8,112,688	2,012,461
2014	2,012,843	1,582,770
2013	3,057,566	1,261,980
2012	6,825,989	2,500,249
2011	3,354,596	5,356,771
2010	2,119,275	1,303,449
2009	3,849,040	2,072,746
2008	1,862,477	3,429,991
2007	5,878,691	3,449,360
2006	5,468,901	4,404,844
2005	7,168,062	1,521,327
2004	7,011,023	964,800
2003	2,038,443	1,922,249
2002	4,097,593	3,077,119
2001	1,822,600	1,748,661

Historically, we can see that lightning-caused fires have led to more damage in the U.S., and this is especially true in the West region which includes states like California, Oregon, and Washington.

That said, it’s worth noting that in three out of the six years from 2016–2021, human-caused wildfires led to more damage.

If you’re interested in learning more about wildfires, check out this article about The Relationship Between Climate Change and Wildfires

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

Related Topics:America US wildfires fires air quality climate lightning human-caused wildfires matches camping campfire cigarette cigarettes

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Chart: Damage Caused by Global Forest Fires (2001-2023)

See how total forest cover lost has changed over the last 22 years, along with what portion comes from wildfire impact.

Published

1 week ago

September 5, 2024

Marcus Lu

Chart: Damage Caused by Global Forest Fires (2001-2023)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic shows the number of hectares lost each year to global forest fires, based on recent data published by the World Resources Institute (WRI).

The dark part of the trees represents forest loss from non-fire related causes, while the bright portion is forest loss due to fire.

Data and Methodology

To collect this data, researchers at the University of Maryland used Landsat satellite imagery to map the area of tree cover lost to stand-replacing forest fires (fires that kill all or most of the living overstory in a forest) annually from 2001 to 2023.

Year	Fire-related losses (million hectares)	Non-fire losses (million hectares)	Fire share of total losses (%)
2001	2.5	10.8	19%
2002	4.6	11.9	28%
2003	4.5	10.0	31%
2004	5.4	14.5	27%
2005	3.9	14.2	22%
2006	4.2	13.5	24%
2007	4.0	14.4	21%
2008	4.2	14.4	23%
2009	2.9	14.1	17%
2010	3.6	14.9	20%
2011	4.2	13.4	24%
2012	6.7	16.8	28%
2013	7.0	13.7	34%
2014	6.4	17.3	27%
2015	5.3	14.3	27%
2016	9.6	20.1	32%
2017	7.9	21.5	27%
2018	6.4	18.3	26%
2019	7.6	16.6	31%
2020	8.9	17.0	34%
2021	9.3	15.9	37%
2022	6.7	16.1	29%
2023	11.9	16.3	42%

While the number of hectares burned varies each year, we can see there has been a clear upward trend since 2001. For example, 2020, 2021, and 2023 were the fourth, third, and first worst years in the dataset for forest fires globally.

2023’s losses were partly driven by Canada, which contains nearly 9% of the world’s forests. The country lost a massive 7.8 million hectares in 2023 due to fires.

Why Are Fires Becoming Worse?

According to the WRI, climate change is a major reason the damage caused by global forest fires is increasing. For example, extreme heat waves are five times more likely today than they were 150 years ago.

This is due to the climate feedback loop, where increasing emissions drive hotter and drier conditions, which in turn cause more fires.

When forests burn, the carbon that was stored in their trunks, branches, and leaves is released into the atmosphere. This release of carbon further drives hotter and drier conditions.