Savanna fires — Burned Area in Northern America
Northern America: Savanna fires — Burned Area was 6.73 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Savanna fires — Burned Area in Northern America, 1990–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.
Analysis
Northern America recorded 6.73 million ha for savanna fires — burned area in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 41.1% on the previous year and up 50.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, savanna fires — burned area in Northern America peaked at 11.44 million ha in 2023 and was at its lowest, 1.03 million ha, in 2001.
That places Northern America 16th out of 31 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Savanna fires — Burned Area in Northern America, year by year
| Year | ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 3.97 million ha | — |
| 1991 | 3.97 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 3.97 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 3.97 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 3.97 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 3.97 million ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 2.31 million ha | -41.8% |
| 1997 | 1.21 million ha | -47.8% |
| 1998 | 3.43 million ha | +184.6% |
| 1999 | 2.14 million ha | -37.7% |
| 2000 | 1.82 million ha | -14.8% |
| 2001 | 1.03 million ha | -43.5% |
| 2002 | 4.06 million ha | +294.7% |
| 2003 | 3.24 million ha | -20.3% |
| 2004 | 4.90 million ha | +51.3% |
| 2005 | 4.67 million ha | -4.6% |
| 2006 | 4.53 million ha | -3.2% |
| 2007 | 3.99 million ha | -11.9% |
| 2008 | 3.01 million ha | -24.4% |
| 2009 | 2.73 million ha | -9.3% |
| 2010 | 3.49 million ha | +27.6% |
| 2011 | 4.68 million ha | +34.2% |
| 2012 | 4.24 million ha | -9.4% |
| 2013 | 4.77 million ha | +12.5% |
| 2014 | 4.48 million ha | -6.1% |
| 2015 | 4.90 million ha | +9.3% |
| 2016 | 2.79 million ha | -43.1% |
| 2017 | 5.41 million ha | +93.9% |
| 2018 | 3.88 million ha | -28.2% |
| 2019 | 2.76 million ha | -28.9% |
| 2020 | 3.43 million ha | +24.1% |
| 2021 | 5.55 million ha | +61.8% |
| 2022 | 3.41 million ha | -38.6% |
| 2023 | 11.44 million ha | +235.8% |
| 2024 | 6.73 million ha | -41.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 3.29 million ha | 1.21 million ha | 3.97 million ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.40 million ha | 1.03 million ha | 4.90 million ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.14 million ha | 2.76 million ha | 5.41 million ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.11 million ha | 3.41 million ha | 11.44 million ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Northern America
- 13 Sudan 5.35 million ha compare
- 14 Chad 4.71 million ha compare
- 14 Türkiye 56,239 ha compare
- 15 South Africa 4.33 million ha compare
- 15 Timor-Leste 3,185 ha compare
- 16 Ghana 4.17 million ha compare
- 17 Canada 3.83 million ha compare
- 18 Congo 3.82 million ha compare
- 19 Madagascar 3.74 million ha compare
More climate change data for Northern America
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 318,841 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 70,553 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 248,289 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 266.24 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 8,867 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 124,612 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 105,892 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 18,720 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 399.59 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 668.56 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is savanna fires — burned area in Northern America?
- Savanna fires — burned area in Northern America was 6.73 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest savanna fires — burned area recorded in Northern America?
- The highest recorded value was 11.44 million ha in 2023.
- What is the lowest savanna fires — burned area recorded in Northern America?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.03 million ha in 2001.
- How does Northern America rank for savanna fires — burned area?
- Northern America ranks 16th out of 31 groups with data for 2024.
- Is savanna fires — burned area rising or falling in Northern America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 50.1%. 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 Savanna fires — Burned Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
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.