After several quieter years, wildfires have returned to western Greenland. Two recent fires have drawn attention to a region more often linked with glaciers and ice sheets than with flames. When researchers visited in 2023 to study earlier large fires, residents said they would not be surprised if fires returned. They recalled how dry the land had become, making ignition easier and control harder. For communities near Sisimiut on the west coast, the latest events were therefore not unexpected. The research indicates that wildfires may become part of a new Arctic reality.
In 2023, the team spoke with firefighters, business owners, land users, tourism managers and visitors who had experienced the earlier fires. A common view was that these events differed from anything remembered. Older residents were especially surprised. One said it was something new even for them. Their accounts align with satellite data and reports showing no landscape fires in western Greenland from 1995 to 2007, yet more than twenty since then.
Many fires, including one that burned in the tundra for weeks, occurred during an unusually warm and dry period from 2015 to 2020. Wetter summers followed and brought a pause, but this year’s fires suggest those conditions have returned. The risk has also affected visitors. Thousands of cruise passengers and hikers travel the Arctic Circle Trail. Several hikers expressed surprise at encountering fires, noting they associated wildfires with places such as Australia or California.
Authorities have since reminded trail users about safe campfire practices and distributed guidance on wildfire awareness. Greenland has always experienced some fires, and traditional land users have long followed safe methods, such as lighting fires on bedrock and managing smoke ovens. Yet the extreme dryness in recent years made the landscape far more flammable.
Unlike forest fires elsewhere, Greenland’s fires usually burn in tundra, moving through mosses, shrubs and organic soils exposed by melting permafrost. Firefighters in Sisimiut reported that flames can smolder underground for days or weeks before flaring again. During prolonged dry spells, nearby lakes may lack enough water to extinguish the fires, complicating efforts in remote areas.
The fires release carbon stored in soils for centuries, adding to greenhouse gases. Soot deposited on the Greenland Ice Sheet can darken the surface and speed melting. Fine particles can also travel far and affect air quality. Scientists have warned that climate change will raise wildfire risk across the Arctic. The 2015–2020 fires may mark Greenland following the same trend. As warming continues, wildfire is likely to become more common in a landscape once defined by ice. Residents interviewed in 2023 during rainy weather still expected fires to return with the next dry spell. This summer, after a warm and dry winter, that is exactly what occurred.
