Wildfires in wet African forests have doubled in recent decades

Climate change and human activities like deforestation are causing more fires in central and west Africa's wet, tropical forests, according to the first-ever comprehensive survey there. The fires have long been overlooked.

Scientists have known for decades that wet forests in western and central Africa have fires, but because the fires tend to be much smaller than their counterparts in dry woodlands and savannas, relatively little research has been done on Africa's tropical forest fires. This has led to uncertainty over where and when they burn, what exacerbates them and how that might shift in response to climate change.

Areas with rapid forest loss, or deforestation, also saw more fire activity. Deforestation is associated with high levels of human activity and fragments the remaining forests, increasing the length of exposed edges where most fires burn. A forest's edge has a drier microclimate and more invasive species than interior forests, making it more susceptible to fire.

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