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Whether it’s the Australian coast or the rainforests of Brazil, unrestrained wildfires – shrouded by black smoke and punctuated by the crackle of burning vegetation – have laid waste to some of the world’s most-iconic landscapes in recent years.

These blazes, directly and indirectly, impact millions of people and myriad habitats globally – and they’re becoming more common.

Record-breaking temperatures in 2021 increased the frequency and intensity of wildfires and their associated risks to human and environmental health, according to Spreading like Wildfire, a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and GRID-Arendal.

“We need to better understand the nature of the threat in each locality and develop more effective wildfire risk reduction strategies and policies,” says Andrew Sullivan, co-editor of the report and Research Team Leader of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

“We also need to accept that, regardless of what we do, there will always be a residual risk that we have to learn to live with.”

Even with urgent action, the number of wildfires globally is expected to increase 50 per cent by the end of the century.