Wildfires ravaged Chile in February, affecting the Maule,
Biobio, Ñuble, and Araucania regions. With similar fires in
2017, there's growing concern about the deadly combination of
climate & land-use change.
Central Chile has been experiencing a megadrought since 2010,
making it one of the longest periods of dry weather in the last
1,000 years1. Water availability and vegetation have
suffered, resulting in a number of destructive forest fires. Seven
of the top ten wildfire years on record have now occurred since
2010, highlighting the severity of the situation (Table 1).
The most recent event began on January 30, during the summer
season in the Southern Hemisphere. Record temperatures of over
40°C, combined with strong winds, created ideal fire-spreading
conditions. This led to more than 400 individual fires burning
across south-central Chile by early February. Approximately 430,000
hectares were burned (Figure 1), resulting in 26 fatalities and
over 4,000 damaged
