Global firestorm: Igniting insights on environmental and socio-economic impacts for future research

Abstract

Forests are vital life-preserving assets, essential for biodiversity, human health, climate change mitigation, and economic stability. Yet, they are increasingly threatened by forest fires, which undermine these benefits. In the first half of 2025, forest fires in the United States burned over 810,000 acres, Canada lost 7.3 million hectares, while the 2020 Australian mega-fires, which caused an estimated US $20 billion in economic losses, illustrate the scale and urgency of the problem. Despite such impacts, research integrating the diverse dimensions of forest fires, including suppression costs, health effects, tourism, economic impacts, technological advancements, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, remains limited. This study systematically reviews 142 peer-reviewed publications from 2000 to 2023, underscoring the importance of applying theoretical frameworks to practical fire management strategies, bridging the gap between academic insight and real-world application. The findings show that forest fires generate cascading effects on economic growth, ecological services, biodiversity, human health, and macroeconomic stability, all critical for achieving sustainable development goals. Persistent research gaps include the scarcity of region-specific long-term studies, limited integration of opportunity costs into economic assessments, insufficient attention to chronic health impacts, lack of socio-ecological evaluations, minimal empirical work on indigenous populations, and inadequate practical assessment of fire management technologies. Addressing these gaps require investigation into demographic outcomes such as infant mortality and female fertility rates, adoption of advanced valuation methods including the Replacement Cost Method and the Avoided Cost Method, and systematic study of climate–fire feedback loops to ensure theoretical models are effectively translated into actionable strategies for sustainable development and resilience.