For thousands of years, wildfires on Alaska’s North Slope were rare. Wildfires on Alaska’s North Slope were more intense during the past century than at any point in the last 3,000 years, according to new research published in the journal Biogeosciences. That changed sharply in the 20th century, when warming temperatures dried soils and fueled the spread of shrubs, setting the stage for intense fires. Peat cores and satellite data reveal that fire activity since the 1950s has reached record levels. The findings suggest the Arctic is entering a new, more dangerous fire era. recent fire levels are the highest on record, driven by the spread of woody vegetation and increasingly dry soils. Both trends are linked to rising temperatures.
— source University of Alaska Fairbanks | Jan 14, 2026