OBSERVER: CAMS tracks intense global wildfire activity in first six months of 2025
sonia
Thu, 24/07/2025 – 13:07
The first half of 2025 was marked by intense wildfire activity in several areas around the world. From the boreal forests of Canada and Russia to the agricultural heartlands of Southeast Asia, and from temperate zones of Europe to the Korean Peninsula, wildfires and the resulting long-distance transport of smoke had significant impacts on air quality. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has been tracking these global wildfires and monitoring the atmospheric impact in the affected regions and beyond. In this Observer, we look at some of the most significant wildfire activity in the first six months of the year, with a particular focus on two regions: North America and South and Southeast Asia.
Intense Canadian wildfire activity
In April and May 2025, before the boreal summer had even started, Canada experienced one of its most intense early wildfire seasons on record. Large-scale fires burned across the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. The intensity of these fires, fuelled by moderate drought, high temperatures, and strong winds, gave rise to reported formations of pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds—towering storm-like formations created by the extreme heat of fires. These clouds are capable of injecting smoke and aerosols high into the atmosphere where the strong winds of the jet stream can transport them over vast distances.
At the beginning of June, Canada’s total estimated wildfire carbon emissions had already reached 56 megatonnes, the second highest in the CAMS record after the historic fires of 2023, with CAMS cumulative total emissions data showing a trajectory similar to 2023 (see charts above). By the end of the month, the total was estimated to be 108 megatonnes, compared to 173 megatonnes for the same period in 2023. By the end of June, wildfire carbon emissions for Manitoba alone reached approximately 18.5 megatonnes, already exceeding the province’s total of 16.2 megatonnes for the entire year of 2013.
The smoke didn’t stay within Canadian borders. CAMS tracked several smoke plumes from these wildfires as they travelled across North America and the North Atlantic Ocean, with an initial plume reaching southern Europe and the Mediterranean around 18 May, and confirmed observations in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean by the next day. A second, much larger plume developed at the end of May, reaching the Azores and as far as northwestern Europe.
According to CAMS Senior Scientist Mark Parrington, the scale of smoke transport is a clear indicator of the severity of the fires: “Wildfires are a frequent occurrence in boreal forests during the summer season. At CAMS, we have observed particularly severe wildfire emissions and atmospheric impacts during spring and summer for several years, especially across Canada and eastern Russia. This data, and the fact that we are able to observe the smoke as far away as Europe, is a reflection of the scale of the fires and their effects on air quality far from the burn area.”
Russian wildfires and their atmospheric impacts in East Asia
Meanwhile, similar conditions were playing out in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District starting in early April, with wildfires burning across the Republic of Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai. By the end of the month, additional wildfires had ignited in Sakha Republic, some of them within the Arctic Circle.
By late May, a state of emergency had been declared in Zabaykalsky Krai, with over a million hectares affected. CAMS Fire Radiative Power (FRP) and emissions data indicated that these were the most severe fires in April-May in the region since 2018. Estimated emissions for April-May in Buryatia were the highest since 2016, and in Zabaykalsky Krai, since 2015. Additional fires in the Amur Oblast generated further smoke plumes across the region.
CAMS forecasts showed smoke from these fires being transported into northeastern China and northern Japan. A 2024 study by Hokkaido University warned that increases in Siberian wildfire smoke could result in thousands of premature deaths across East Asia and economic costs in the billions.
ASEAN: Lower emissions, lingering haze
In sharp contrast to the intense fire seasons in Canada and Russia, the Upper ASEAN region, comprising Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, reported one of the lowest estimated emissions for the January–April fire season since 2003. This improvement is likely attributed to coordinated efforts to curb agricultural burning and mitigate transboundary haze pollution.
Despite lower emissions, CAMS data showed high concentrations of smoke and organic matter aerosols during pollution episodes, especially in northern Thailand and Cambodia. The pollution, originating largely from slash-and-burn practices in rural areas, was transported into urban centres where it compounded existing emissions from fossil fuel combustion. CAMS aerosol optical depth (AOD) data closely matched ground-based observations from the Aeronet sensor network, confirming the presence and severity of wildfire smoke. AOD is the measure of particulate matter and aerosols, in this case smoke particles, distributed within a column of air from the Earth’s surface to the top of the atmosphere.
Efforts to address haze pollution include the discussions at the 19th Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which was held in December 2024, and guidelines to reduce crop burning. Nevertheless, experts caution that socioeconomic factors and varying national monitoring capabilities continue to hamper a more comprehensive regional solution.
Broader trends: Unusual fires in Europe and record blazes in Korea
During the first half of 2025, fire activity was also reported in regions not usually prone to wildfires. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium had an unusually dry and warm spring. The European Drought Observatory placed most of northwestern Europe under drought “watch” and “warning” conditions for much of April and May. These warm and dry conditions are linked to record-breaking burned areas in Germany and the UK, where nearly 30,000 hectares had scorched by early May, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), with CAMS recording the second-highest fire-related carbon emissions for the UK and Ireland since 2003.
South Korea, too, faced its deadliest and most intense wildfires in history during March. Fires in the southern regions of the country killed 32 people, destroyed 5,000 buildings and burned over 100,000 hectares in a single week. Carbon emissions quadrupled compared to typical annual values. An attribution study suggest that these catastrophic fires were made twice as likely by climate change, with hot, dry, and windy conditions accelerating the spread of fires over a 70-kilometre-long corridor.
South Asia and beyond: Persistent haze and low activity
South Asia saw a continuation of its chronic haze issues, with winter and early spring bringing stagnant atmospheric conditions which trapped pollutants from both wildfires and anthropogenic sources. Northern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh were especially affected, with forest fires contributing to severe PM2.5 pollution levels across the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
Elsewhere, South America and Australia experienced relatively quiet fire seasons in early 2025, thanks in part to reduced fire activity in Brazil and the Orinoco Valley. Even so, significant blazes were reported in southern California, Patagonia, and residential parts of Los Angeles.
The role of monitoring and forecasting
CAMS continues to play a critical role in understanding and responding to wildfire events by combining satellite-based observations with advanced atmospheric modelling and forecasting systems. By integrating fire radiative power data, aerosol optical depth analysis, and air quality forecasting, CAMS provides invaluable near real-time information to decision-makers, scientists, and the public.
CAMS provides open-access data which not only tracks the physical and chemical composition of smoke plumes but also predicts their movement. These capabilities are especially important as the impacts of wildfires become increasingly transboundary, affecting regions thousands of kilometres from the source.
The wildfire events in the first six months of 2025 illustrate a deeply interconnected global landscape, where the actions and emissions of one region can affect air quality and climate thousands of kilometres away. Whether it’s boreal forest fires in Canada turning European skies hazy, or Southeast Asia’s smoke drifting across borders, the evidence is clear: wildfires are not isolated events but global phenomena with shared consequences. CAMS provides near real-time data and insights essential for informed responses, empowering decision-makers worldwide to take science-based, coordinated, and effective action against the far-reaching impacts of wildfires.
Thu, 24/07/2025 – 12:00