More land has burned globally in the first four months of this year than in any comparable period on record. Wildfires in 2026 are more intense than ever, fueled by extreme heat, drought, and the devastating consequences of climate change—and these wildfires are not isolated events.
This disastrous wildfire season is already reshaping ecosystems and communities. Here's what we can expect as fires worsen and how we can mitigate the damage to vulnerable communities and ecosystems.
The Earth is now 1.1 degrees Celsius hotter than it was 150 years ago. While that number may seem small, the increase has led to more extreme heat waves, more droughts, and more storms.
These heat waves are more than just a single event. Extreme heat has long-term consequences for communities and the environment, drying out soils and vegetation and directly raising wildfire risk.
Heat can cause disastrous ripple effects, putting stress on wildlife, leaving pollinators vulnerable and without sustenance, and destroying urban trees. In communities, these heat waves also strain water resources, damage air quality, and cause massive power outages and infrastructure failure.
One heat wave can quickly spiral, causing a multitude of disasters within a community. Heat can cause a drought. A drought can drive a wildfire. A wildfire can create an air-quality crisis in a community.
This means that traditional disaster response—which involves activation, response, and quick deactivation—doesn’t cut it. Hurricanes end, and floodwaters recede, but extreme heat and wildfires last much longer. Really helping communities requires mitigation and the ability to adapt quickly to a compounding disaster.
On August 1st, a series of fires broke out in Washington. The blazes burned over 10,000 acres, forcing mass evacuations and destroying or heavily damaging more than 900 homes.
Strong winds and dry weather driven by human-induced climate change increased the severity of the wildfires, making it the Pacific Northwest’s worst wildfire season in 30 years.
The wildfires didn’t just cause destruction—they created a housing crisis, displacing thousands of people. The fires also caused widespread power outages, destroyed animal habitats, and damaged the air quality in the region.
When we realized that the disaster had displaced pets and made it difficult for families to care for their animals, we coordinated with local organizations on the ground to distribute pet supplies, pet food, and emergency humanitarian packs for families in need.
"Heat and wildfire disasters don't follow the playbook we built for hurricanes and floods — they build slowly and compound on each other. The real innovation is happening at the community level, where local groups are building the networks and knowledge to respond fast. Our job is to show up and fill the gaps they've already found — not to tell them what they need."
— Laura Littlebear, EVP of Programs
Heat and wildfire disasters don't behave like hurricanes and floods. They build slowly, last longer, and don't have a clear end point. This means our usual playbook—activate, respond, deactivate within days—doesn't fit as neatly. These disasters also tend to stack: heat drives drought, drought drives wildfire, wildfire drives air quality problems.
In Colorado, a human food bank supporting wildfire-displaced families flagged a pet food gap on their own and adjusted their scope to cover it—without waiting to be told.
Communities are building informal, fast, hyper-local coordination, often over group chats and shared social media groups. We frequently rely on animal partners to serve the human community through their pets. This is an ever-evolving landscape that creates a broader, community-based approach to serve the entire family.
Communities want flexibility to redirect aid to whatever gap they've identified locally rather than a fixed list of supplies. There's a shift toward wanting year-round readiness, not seasonal readiness. The heat and wildfire season doesn't really end anymore. Partners are asking for sustained support, not one-time responses.
"Resilience begins long before disaster strikes. Every tree planted, every wetland restored, every living shoreline built, and every pollinator habitat established helps communities better withstand the next heat wave, wildfire, or storm. Conservation isn't separate from disaster preparedness anymore. It's one of the smartest investments we can make in protecting both people and wildlife."
— Dr. Bryna Donnelly, EVP of Programs
Heat is a chronic, cumulative stressor that magnifies nearly every other disaster we face. Extreme heat dries soils and vegetation, increasing wildfire risk. It stresses wildlife, pollinators, urban trees, and water resources while making communities more vulnerable to power outages, poor air quality, and infrastructure failures.
Healthy ecosystems are part of critical infrastructure. That’s why communities are shifting from simply reacting to disasters toward investing in long-term resilience.
Rather than implementing isolated projects, we're helping communities develop coordinated conservation networks that connect habitat restoration, volunteer engagement, biodiversity monitoring, and community education into a long-term resilience strategy that benefits both people and wildlife.
Communities are increasingly recognizing that conservation and disaster preparedness are connected. They're asking for solutions that help today while also making them stronger tomorrow.
Our partners are looking for ways to build greener neighborhoods, restore degraded habitats, expand tree canopy, improve pollinator populations, and strengthen local ecosystems because they understand these investments reduce long-term risk while improving public health and community well-being.
Wildfires can wipe out forage across huge landscapes, leaving surviving bee colonies without enough nectar and pollen. Following hurricanes, floods, and fires, Greater Good Charities has helped support beekeepers by providing emergency feed, replacement equipment, and hive supplies to keep colonies alive until natural forage recovers.
Protecting pollinators isn't just about honey production. They're essential to agriculture, ecosystem recovery, and long-term food security.
At Greater Good Charities, we approach disasters in two ways: immediate, flexible disaster relief and long-term ecological resilience investment.
In addition to typical disaster response, we're investing in projects that make communities more resilient before disasters occur. We're working with local partners to reduce urban heat island effects, improve stormwater infiltration, provide shade, support biodiversity, and create healthier neighborhoods that are better able to withstand prolonged heat.
The same philosophy extends to our coastal work. Our living shoreline projects restore natural coastal habitats such as oyster reefs and native vegetation that buffer communities from storm surge and erosion while creating healthier ecosystems that are more resilient to climate-driven weather extremes.
Next spring, for example, we'll be working with partners in Tucson, Arizona, where increasing urban canopy, restoring native vegetation, and improving habitat connectivity can strengthen community resilience in one of the country's fastest-warming regions.
Climate change is one of the main causes of worsening wildfires. Warmer temperatures and a dryer atmosphere are causing longer, more intense wildfire seasons.
Extreme heat dries out soil and vegetation, causing them to burn more easily. Heat waves can also create the hot, unstable atmosphere favorable for lightning storms and raise nighttime temperatures. Firefighters typically rely on lower nighttime temperatures to slow the spread of fires.
Greater Good Charities is responding to several major wildfires across the globe, including in Spain and France, Canada, and the United States. Instead of following traditional aid categories, we listen to communities and act quickly, delivering aid, expertise, and funding where it’s needed most.
In a wildfire, wildlife may be displaced or injured. It is important to give wildlife space and to never approach a wild animal. Contact a licensed wildlife center or animal control if you see a burned animal, as they will be able to provide treatment.
You can also support environmental and disaster recovery groups that focus on planting native species and restoring the environment.
As wildfires intensify across the globe, Greater Good Charities remains committed to helping communities withstand disaster and mitigate the lasting environmental consequences of wildfires.
You can help communities tomorrow by making a donation today. Your gift helps Greater Good Charities send emergency relief in times of crisis and fund innovative projects to combat the effects of climate change.