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How the world’s fires changed while humanity hit pause

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Based on a feed excerpt; full article content has not been acquired. Source evidence retrieved 15/11/2026, 12:28:23 UTC.

Briefings

A study led by Jianghao Wang at the Chinese Academy of Sciences compared COVID-19 lockdown periods with other years to find that reduced human activity during the pandemic lowered average fire activity. The research contrasts this with recent events like the 2020 Australian bushfires and 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which caused massive destruction despite similar human activity levels. The study highlights that while humans are a primary cause of fires, the pandemic era showed a net reduction in fire activity compared to non-pandemic years.

Key points

• A study led by Jianghao Wang at the Chinese Academy of Sciences compared COVID-19 lockdown periods with other years to find that reduced human activity during the pandemic lowered average fire activity.
• The research contrasts this with recent events like the 2020 Australian bushfires and 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which caused massive destruction despite similar human activity levels.

Context

This research contrasts the pandemic era with recent high-impact fire events to understand how human activity affects fire activity. The study provides a baseline for comparing different years, though it does not account for other factors like climate change or natural variability.

Limitations

The study compares COVID-19 lockdown periods with other years but does not account for other factors like climate change or natural variability. Data from the 2020 lockdowns suggest lower human activity had the net effect of lowering average fire activity, but this does not explain why recent fires were so destructive.

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