Grassland — Burned Area in Northern America

Northern America: Grassland — Burned Area was 2.11 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
2.11 million ha
Change on year
up 202.8%
Rank
15th
of 31 groups
All-time high
2.25 million ha
in 2012
All-time low
379,687 ha
in 1997
Years of data
35
1990–2024

Grassland — Burned Area in Northern America, 1990–2024

500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M1990200720241990: 1.3M ha1991: 1.3M ha1992: 1.3M ha1993: 1.3M ha1994: 1.3M ha1995: 1.3M ha1996: 937.5k ha1997: 379.7k ha1998: 1.0M ha1999: 679.7k ha2000: 873.0k ha2001: 596.0k ha2002: 898.6k ha2003: 1.0M ha2004: 501.6k ha2005: 1.3M ha2006: 2.2M ha2007: 1.5M ha2008: 1.2M ha2009: 1.2M ha2010: 780.6k ha2011: 2.2M ha2012: 2.2M ha2013: 669.2k ha2014: 1.2M ha2015: 922.4k ha2016: 1.5M ha2017: 2.1M ha2018: 2.0M ha2019: 896.2k ha2020: 2.1M ha2021: 1.4M ha2022: 1.3M ha2023: 696.3k ha2024: 2.1M ha

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.

Analysis

The most recent figure for grassland — burned area in Northern America is 2.11 million ha, measured in 2024.

The figure is up 202.8% on the previous year and up 70.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, grassland — burned area in Northern America peaked at 2.25 million ha in 2012 and was at its lowest, 379,687 ha, in 1997.

Northern America ranks 15th of 31 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.

Grassland — Burned Area in Northern America, year by year

Annual values for Grassland — Burned Area in Northern America, 1990 to 2024.
Year ha Change
1990 1.25 million ha
1991 1.25 million ha +0.0%
1992 1.25 million ha +0.0%
1993 1.25 million ha +0.0%
1994 1.25 million ha +0.0%
1995 1.25 million ha +0.0%
1996 937,520 ha -25.0%
1997 379,687 ha -59.5%
1998 1.04 million ha +173.8%
1999 679,720 ha -34.6%
2000 872,959 ha +28.4%
2001 596,002 ha -31.7%
2002 898,608 ha +50.8%
2003 1.02 million ha +13.8%
2004 501,632 ha -51.0%
2005 1.26 million ha +151.4%
2006 2.15 million ha +70.7%
2007 1.53 million ha -29.0%
2008 1.23 million ha -19.3%
2009 1.16 million ha -5.7%
2010 780,621 ha -32.9%
2011 2.18 million ha +179.7%
2012 2.25 million ha +3.0%
2013 669,191 ha -70.2%
2014 1.24 million ha +84.8%
2015 922,381 ha -25.4%
2016 1.48 million ha +60.3%
2017 2.08 million ha +40.5%
2018 1.96 million ha -5.9%
2019 896,250 ha -54.2%
2020 2.11 million ha +134.9%
2021 1.36 million ha -35.4%
2022 1.28 million ha -6.2%
2023 696,270 ha -45.4%
2024 2.11 million ha +202.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.05 million ha 379,687 ha 1.25 million ha 10
2000s 1.12 million ha 501,632 ha 2.15 million ha 10
2010s 1.44 million ha 669,191 ha 2.25 million ha 10
2020s 1.51 million ha 696,270 ha 2.11 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Northern America

  1. 12 Zambia 3.59 million ha compare
  2. 13 Madagascar 3.28 million ha compare
  3. 14 Burkina Faso 3.26 million ha compare
  4. 15 Senegal 3.12 million ha compare
  5. 16 Ghana 2.97 million ha compare
  6. 17 Nigeria 2.88 million ha compare
  7. 18 Mozambique 2.66 million ha compare

See the full ranking of 273 places →

More climate change data for Northern America

All data for Northern America →

Frequently asked questions

What is grassland — burned area in Northern America?
Grassland — burned area in Northern America was 2.11 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest grassland — burned area recorded in Northern America?
The highest recorded value was 2.25 million ha in 2012.
What is the lowest grassland — burned area recorded in Northern America?
The lowest recorded value was 379,687 ha in 1997.
How does Northern America rank for grassland — burned area?
Northern America ranks 15th out of 31 groups with data for 2024.
Is grassland — burned area rising or falling in Northern America?
Over the last ten years it is up 70.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Northern America data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Grassland — Burned Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Grassland — Burned Area in Northern America. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://climate.statizoid.com/stat/grassland-burned-area-fao-tier-1/northern-america/

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About this data

Indicator
Grassland — Burned Area
Unit
ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
273 places, 9,329 data points, 1990–2024
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT domain on Emissions from Fires consists of estimates of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from biomass burning in a range of vegetation types and from fires in organic soils.