DAISY DUNNE

16.06.2022 | 10:00am

EXPLAINERSExplainer: Can climate change and biodiversity loss be tackled together?

A wildfire racing across a hillside has become emblematic of climate change. And for good reason: a quarter of the world’s natural landscapes now face longer fire seasons as a result of warming and shifts to rainfall, according to arecent landmark climate report.

But there is another global threat that worsens the risk of fire.Scientists have shownthat degraded ecosystems – those that have seen their unique blend of species diluted by human disturbance – are more likely to succumb to blazes.

How global warming and biodiversity loss can conspire to drive more deadly wildfires is just one example of the numerous interlinks between these two global challenges.

As both problems escalate, scientists are racing to understand all of the ways that climate change and biodiversity loss are already compounding one…