The 2024 Wildfire Season: 420,002,024th Year of Biomass Burning on Earth (Invited Presentation)

Every year wildfire impacts some place on Earth. The year 2024 was no exception with major events in Canada, Greece, and the Western U.S., especially Oregon’s worst wildfire season on record and California having its fourth largest wildfire on record as of this writing. Also as of this writing over 27,000 personnel are on fire deployment. On July 18 the national preparedness level reached the highest possible value of five meaning that national resources are heavily committed. Fatalities, evacuations, community structure losses, and health hazards from smoke all contributed to socioeconomic impacts for the year. Climate, climate change, and critical fire weather patterns are very much part of the confluence of conditions enabling these extreme fire events. Hot and dry regional patterns increase fuel aridity that in turn enables increased fire potential. It is becoming more common for smoke to create unhealthy to hazardous categories of air quality. This presentation provides highlights of the 2024 global fire season, emphasizing the role of weather and climate, key events, actions, and impacts through pictures and narrative.