Major polluting wildfires
Wildfires continue to ravage the planet in
one of the hottest years ever recorded

ORGANIC MATTER AEROSOL EMISSIONS
(with wind directions)

Siberia, Russia:
Years of silkmoth
infestations leave behind
swathes of highly
flammable deadwood

Map projection
distorts size of
pollution – see
globe for true size

ASIA
EUROPE
N. AMERICA
EUROPE
AFRICA
ASIA
OCEANIA

NORTH
AMERICA

SOUTH
AMERICA

Map as
of Aug 9,
2026

British Columbia,
Canada and U.S.
northwest:
Hundreds of fast
moving fires cause
thousands to flee
their homes

Congo Basin, Africa: 
Mostly intentional
agricultural seasonal
burning, part of savanna
management, with
additional illegal
deforestation

Indonesia: Facing longer, more severe dry
season due to El Niño – with 2026 seeing more
than twice as many fires as previous El Niño in
2023. Authorities are employing cloud-seeding
aircraft to try to induce rainfall

Sources: Copernicus Fire Emissions Watch/CAMS/ECMWF, news reports
© GRAPHIC NEWS