Photo: Stuff / Kai SchwoererOff the back of two devastating wildfires in Tongariro National Park, the country is facing another summer of increased fire risk. Her work has involved analysing firegrounds in Canada, and more recently, the sites of wildfires at Lake Pukaki and Lake Ōhau in 2020. "On that basis, yes, you could say that certainly the trend is suggesting that the number of large wildfires is increasing." In fact, Mitchell said the data showed humans caused 98 percent of New Zealand's wildfires. "It's such an easy way to avoid a lot of the wildfires that we're having," he said.

Source: Stuff December 30, 2025 15:22 UTC