New Guinea, the world’s second-largest island, harbors an extraordinary variety of plant life across more than a dozen distinct ecoregions, including seasonally dry savannas, tropical rainforests, and lowland swamp forests. But in September and October 2026, as drought gripped New Guinea (sometimes called Papua) amid a strong El Niño, fires scorched the island and smoke
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. — SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (AP) — Fire crews in Southern California worked Saturday to contain a wind-driven blaze that charred hills and burned at least six large coastal homes, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people. Hundreds of firefighters worked through the night on a blaze burning on the hills
LOS ANGELES — Large swaths of California are expected to see fire weather starting Thursday and thousands of people could lose power as utilities try not to spark wildfires during hot and windy conditions expected to last through Saturday. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has faced criticism for her city’s response to deadly fires
Unlike a tornado or thunderstorm that can deliver destruction in minutes, El Niño exerts its influence over many months. This year, a drought accompanying El Niño has left the Amazon rainforest primed to burn, and scientists say the region has entered the early stages of what they think will be a long and severe fire
EAST WENATCHEE, Wash. — An 18-year-old in Washington state has been arrested for the investigation of manslaughter and arson in connection with a deadly July 4 fire, a county sheriff said Thursday. The teen from Kent was among a group of people setting off illegal fireworks from the back of a truck when one landed
If there were an apex predator among fires, tropical peatland fires would be a top contender. These fires, which burn in dried wetland soils, are slow-burning, highly polluting, and notoriously difficult to extinguish because they smolder at low temperatures and often burn underground through expansive deposits of peat. By one estimate, peat fires generate three
