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The Conversation
The Conversation
Environment
Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Alaska on fire: Thousands of lightning strikes and a warming climate put Alaska on pace for another historic fire season

A large tundra fire burned near St. Mary's, Alaska, on June 13, 2022. BLM Alaska Fire Service/Incident Management Team/John Kern

Alaska is on pace for another historic wildfire year, with its fastest start to the fire season on record. By mid-June 2022, over 1 million acres had burned. By early July, that number was well over 2 million acres, more than twice the acreage of a typical Alaska fire season.

Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center in Fairbanks, explains why Alaska is seeing so many large, intense fires this year and how the region’s fire season is changing.

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