Megafires under Climate Change: A Review of Research Advances

With climate changing, the global risk of large-scale high-intensity forest fires will constantly increase. This paper focuses on the concept, occurrence and formation mechanism, ecological impact, and research methods of large-scale high-intensity forest fires. The review indicates that "large scale" and "high intensity" have multiple definitions. Large-scale and high-intensity forest fires are distinct from ordinary forest fires; climate change mainly affects fires by intensifying extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures, droughts, and strong winds, while also changing the characteristics of combustibles to drive frequent and extreme fire occurrences and evolution; based on fire risk assessment, empirical models, physical models, and artificial intelligence models have been developed for fire behavior prediction technology; such fires have had a profound impact on the global carbon cycle and the long-term resilience of ecosystems. Future efforts should be placed on integrated three-dimensional monitoring of "air - sky - ground - human", multi-source data fusion-based early warning, and comprehensive management of combustible materials. The research results can provide a reference for constructing an accurate early warning and comprehensive prevention and control system for forest fire risks that is adapted to climate change.