Georgia is burning at 5.3x its average for this week of the year
Every figure below compares a country only with itself, against the same calendar week in each of 13 earlier years, 2012 to 2025, with 2022 missing from the archive. That is what separates an unusual week from a merely busy one.
Against their own record
5.3x Georgia Well clear of its 2016 record weeksmall baseline; rank is the sturdier reading 4.5x Spain Well clear of its 2015 record week not ENSO-linked 3.9x Cuba Well clear of its 2015 record weeksmall baseline; rank is the sturdier reading 3.8x Republic of Serbia Well clear of its 2013 record weeksmall baseline; rank is the sturdier reading 3.7x Indonesia Just past its 2012 record week ENSO-loaded window 3.0x United Kingdom Well clear of its 2012 record weeksmall baseline; rank is the sturdier reading not ENSO-linked 2.8x Papua New Guinea Second-heaviest of 15, 1 excluded 2.6x United States of America Well clear of its 2021 record week not ENSO-linked 2.0x India Just past its 2023 record weeksmall baseline; rank is the sturdier reading 1.9x Belgium Just past its 2020 record weeksmall baseline; rank is the sturdier reading 1.9x Libya Well clear of its 2025 record week 1.8x Germany Just past its 2020 record week 1.7x Mozambique Just past its 2019 record week 1.7x Venezuela Just past its 2018 record week 1.6x Turkmenistan Just past its 2014 record weekHigh against their own average, and nothing else agrees
2.0x Malaysia Second-heaviest of 15, 1 excludedWe take three readings of each country: how it compares with its own average for this week of the year, whether it is setting a record, and how far it stands out from its own year-to-year spread. For the countries above, at least two agree. For these, only the first does. That does not make them quiet, and several are having one of their heaviest weeks on this record; it means the evidence is thinner, so they are listed apart rather than ranked among the others.
Large, and within their own normal range
1.5x Angola Second-heaviest of 15, 1 excludedwithin its historical range; shown for scale not ENSO-linked 1.3x Russia Fourth-heaviest of 15, 1 excludedwithin its historical range; shown for scale 1.1x Zambia Fire week at 1.1x the seasonal normwithin its historical range; shown for scale not ENSO-linkedThese countries are burning at or above their own average for this week and did not clear the anomaly gate. They are here because a fire map that omitted them would misrepresent where the world is burning, and they are listed separately because presenting them as anomalies would misrepresent whether it is unusual.
Shown every week, whatever they are doing
1.5x France Second-heaviest of 15, 1 excludedshown every week so this country can be checked, whatever it is doing not ENSO-linked 0.6x Canada Fire week at 0.6x the seasonal normshown every week so this country can be checked, whatever it is doing not ENSO-linkedThese countries are on the page every week so that a reader can check them rather than take our word for which places matter. Their presence here is not a signal in either direction; read the week each one is having off its own row.
Ranked by how far above normal, not by size. Angola, DR Congo and Zambia each recorded more detections this week than anywhere on this list, and none of them appear on it: the southern African savanna burns on that scale every dry season, so all three sit at or near their own normal. Volume is not news; departure is.
What a detection is. One satellite pixel, about 375 m across, seen radiating enough heat to be flagged as actively burning on a single overpass. A large fire front registers as many pixels at once, and a fire that keeps burning is counted again on every pass it stays hot. Detections are not burned area.
Method. NASA FIRMS, VIIRS on Suomi-NPP only so that every year is measured by the same sensor, low-confidence detections excluded, detections assigned to countries by national boundary polygons applied identically in all years. The window is seven whole UTC days, refreshed once daily, so no figure here is a partial day.
Attribution. Southern and western European fires are driven by heat, drought and wind, and people supply nearly all ignitions. Canadian boreal fire has its own drivers. None of this week's items is presented as an El Nino signal; each carries its own tag.