Wildfire is a phenomenon that has affected pretty much every vegetated environment on Earth for millions of years. However, during the past few decades, the planet has been experiencing extraordinary wildfire activity, with widespread devastation in diverse places such as the Mediterranean, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Australia and even Siberia. The current year has already shown troubling signs of massive fires—for example, Europe's total burnt area for the 2022 fire season is four times greater than the 2006–2021 average, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).