Smell that smoke from the Everglades fire? Climate change making it more common

Miami Herald, August 20, 2025

Aerial photo of a wildfire burning northwest of Weston and sending smoke across much of Southeast Florida. Photo taken by The Everglades Foundation's Chief Science Officer, Dr. Steve Davis.

A wildfire burning through 1,800 acres of the Everglades is filling the air with smoke across South Florida. While scientists stress that no single fire can be directly pinned to climate change, a hotter, drier future will make wildfires in the marsh and across much of the state more likely — and potentially more destructive.

“It’s natural for the Everglades to dry down, but not dry out,” said Steve Davis, the Everglades Foundation’s chief science officer.

“It’s not natural for them to burn large areas.” Right now, the area burning just north of Alligator Alley, northwest of Weston, is drier than it’s been at this time of year since 2007, which was one of the worst drought years on record. Climate change is expected to make droughts more extreme, raising wildfire risks.

“Memory in this system is so important,” Davis said. “If we have a dryer-than-average dry season, then we really need that wet season to kick in on schedule.”

Regular burns are actually essential to the Everglades, clearing grasses to help water flow through the marshes, killing exotic plants and fertilizing new growth with ash. Over thousands of years, fire has shaped the very landscape but drainage canals and surrounding farming and development have made the system more vulnerable to patterns of drought and deluge.

Read the full Miami Herald article here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/climate-change/article311773325.html