World faces a year of unprecedented fires as El Nino looms

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · May 12, 2026 · 957 words · By Sarah Steffen

Extreme Weather Events climate_change Public Health

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What to know about Extreme Weather Events

World faces a year of unprecedented fires as El Nino looms May 12, 2026The world could see a "particularly severe year" of wildfires fueled by climate change and a potentially strong El Nino weather phenomenon after a record-breaking first few months of 2026,…

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

"This year the global fire season has got off to a very fast start," said Theodore Keeping, an extreme weather researcher at Imperial College London, who is part of World Weather Attribution (WWA), a network of climate scientists.

Common ground

Wildfires have scorched 50% more than the average for this time of year, and the current area burnt by wildfires globally is more than 20% higher than the previous record set since tracking began in 2012, he said.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Extreme Weather Events story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Wildfires have scorched 50% more than the average for this time of year?
How does this story connect Extreme Weather Events with climate_change over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/forest-fires-drought-heavy-rain-extreme-weather-what-to-ex…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Appeal to Fear 70% confidence

Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 4

schedule Pending 2

cancel Disputed 1

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Claim 1: “Wildfires have scorched 50% more than the average for this time of year”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including Malay Mail and other web search results, confirm that wildfires have scorched 50% more than the average for this time of year in 2026.

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web search NEUTRAL — The area scorched by wildfires so far is 50 per cent higher than average for this time of year, Keeping said in a press briefing. And this is before El Nino has even formed.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2026/05/12/the-super-el…

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web search NEUTRAL — Global Fire Crisis Deepens as 150 Million Hectares Burn in Early 2026 Photograph: (Pexels).Africa and Asia see sharp rise in fires. Africa has recorded the largest area affected, with nearly 85 millio…
https://www.wionews.com/india-news/over-150-million-hectares…

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web search NEUTRAL — Wildfires have scorched 50% more than the average for this time of year, and the current area burnt by wildfires globally is over 20% higher than the previous record set since tracking began in 2012, …
https://www.dw.com/en/forest-fires-drought-heavy-rain-extrem…

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Claim 2: “Overall, 85 million hectares [around 328,000 square miles] have burned in Africa this year, compared to the previous record of 69 million hectares”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including Deutsche Welle, The Silicon Review, and other web reports, confirm 85 million hectares burned in Africa, surpassing the previous record of 69 million.

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web search NEUTRAL — Record wildfires burned over 150 million hectares worldwide between January and April 2026, the highest on record. Africa and Asia saw the largest areas scorched, with India, China and Southeast Asia …
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/record-wildfir…

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web search NEUTRAL — As many as 85-million hectares of land have burnt in Africa so far this year, 23% more than the previous record of 69-million hectares, he said. The unusually high fire activity in Africa is being dri…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2026-05-12-fire-outb…

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web search NEUTRAL — Africa has been hit hardest, with approximately 85 million hectares scorched 23 percent above the previous record of 69 million hectares. Scientists attribute this surge to rapid shifts from extremely…
https://thesiliconreview.com/2026/05/extreme-heat-wave-recor…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 3: “the current area burnt by wildfires globally is more than 20% higher than the previous record set since tracking began in 2012”

CORROBORATED

The claim is corroborated by Deutsche Welle, Malay Mail, and other web search results stating the burnt area is over 20% higher than the previous record since 2012.

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web search NEUTRAL — More than 150 million hectares of land burned globally between January and April 2026, the highest figure on record for the period, according to World Weather Attribution.
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/record-wildfir…

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web search NEUTRAL — Fires have already burnt a total area exceeding 163 million hectares between January and the first week of May, according to data from the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS). The total burnt ar…
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2026/05/12/the-super-el…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 4: “Record-breaking burn areas have been observed in almost all countries in West Africa and the Sahel region.”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by Deutsche Welle and other web search results (including The Straits Times) stating record-breaking burn areas were observed in almost all countries in West Africa and the Sahel.

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web search NEUTRAL — Especially in the western Sahel, there are frequent shortages of food and water due to its very high government corruption and the semi-arid climate. Nonetheless, the region has sustained very high hu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahel

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web search NEUTRAL — Record-breaking burn areas have been observed in almost all countries in West Africa and the Sahel region.And the compounding is the point," Mahmood said. The last 2023-2024 El Nino peaked as one of t…
https://www.dw.com/en/forest-fires-drought-heavy-rain-extrem…

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web search NEUTRAL — The burnt area from Asian wildfires has far been nearly 40 per cent larger than the previous record. Read more at straitstimes.com.Records were broken in several countries in west Africa and the Sahel…
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/world-risks-year-of-sever…

+ 1 more evidence source

info

Claim 5: “The US and Australia have also experienced unseasonably high burnt areas so far in 2026.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for this claim are irrelevant (returning airline and equipment rental ads) and do not contain information regarding wildfires in the US or Australia in 2026.

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web search NEUTRAL — Find the latest travel deals on flights, hotels and rental cars. Book airline tickets and MileagePlus award tickets to worldwide destinations.
https://www.united.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — United Rentals has an incredible selection of industrial tools and equipment of all sizes for any job. Browse rental locations in BURLINGAME, CA
https://www.unitedrentals.com/locations/ca/burlingame

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web search NEUTRAL — Book United Airlines cheap flights to 300+ destinations worldwide on our official site. Find our most popular flight deals and earn MileagePlus® miles.
https://www.united.com/en-us/flights

info

Claim 6: “A 2024 study by British medical journal The Lancet found 1.5 million deaths every year were linked to air pollution.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is only mentioned in the Deutsche Welle cross-reference; no other independent sources were provided to corroborate the specific 2024 Lancet study figure.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — A 2024 study by British medical journal The Lancet found 1.5 million deaths every year were linked to air pollution.
https://www.dw.com/en/forest-fires-drought-heavy-rain-extrem…

info

Claim 7: “the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from fire smoke could be 10 times more harmful to health than that from traffic emissions.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is only found in the Deutsche Welle cross-reference. The other web results are for a software called 'PM2', not particulate matter (PM2.5).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — PM2 or Process Manager 2, is an Open Source, production ready Node.js process manager. Some key features of PM2 are automatic application load balancing, declarative application configuration, deploym…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PM2_(software)

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web search NEUTRAL — PM2 is an advanced production process manager for Node.js applications with built-in load balancer, zero-downtime reload, startup scripts, monitoring, and microservice management features.
https://pm2.keymetrics.io/docs/usage/quick-start/

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web search NEUTRAL — PM2 is a production process manager for Node.js/Bun applications with a built-in load balancer. It allows you to keep applications alive forever, to reload them without downtime and to facilitate comm…
https://www.npmjs.com/package/pm2

+ 1 more evidence source

schedule

Claim 8: “The last 2023-2024 El Nino peaked as one of the five strongest on record.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 9: “Water temperatures in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean are forecast to reach or exceed 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in the second half of this year”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is only mentioned in the Deutsche Welle cross-reference; no other independent sources were provided to corroborate this specific temperature forecast.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — Water temperatures in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean are forecast to reach or exceed 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in the second half of this year
https://www.dw.com/en/forest-fires-drought-heavy-rain-extrem…

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Claim 10: “Asian wildfires have so far burned nearly 40% more than the previous record year.”

CORROBORATED

Corroborated by Deutsche Welle and web search results specifying that Asian wildfires burned nearly 40% more than the previous record year (specifically citing 2014).

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web search NEUTRAL — Asian fires have burned as much as 44 million hectares of land so far this year, nearly 40% more than the previous record year of 2014, with India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and China among the ...
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/global-fire-outbr…

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web search NEUTRAL — Global fire outbreaks hit record levels this year as climate change intensifies heat, drought, and extreme fire conditions across Africa, Asia, and other regions. Scientists from World Weather Attribu…
https://sigmaearth.com/global-fire-outbreaks-hit-record-leve…

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web search NEUTRAL — Thailand Battles Worsening Haze as Satellite Images Reveal Intense Regional Fire Activity Riau on Forest Fire Alert 2026: Fire Hotspots Concentrated in High-Risk Areas Bush Fires Reported in Bandar Pe…
https://rfmrc-sea.org/

+ 1 more evidence source

schedule

Claim 11: “making 2024 the hottest year on record”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “Forecasts say that there is a 61% chance that El Nino will emerge during the May-July period and stay at least until the end of the year”

DISPUTED

There is a conflict in the specific probability and timing: one source mentions a 61% chance for May-July, while another (Futura-Science citing NOAA) mentions a 62% probability for June-August.

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web search NEUTRAL — NOAA’s Climate Prediction Centre expects El Niño to emerge between June and August 2026 with a 62% probability, persisting through at least the end of the year. The most direct effects land first on c…
https://www.futura-sciences.com/en/weather-experts-predict-a…

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web search NEUTRAL — Between 2015 and 2016, El Niño conditions lasted for 20 overlapping three-month periods, and peaked at 2.8 C (5.04 F) above the historical average, according to NOAA. However, the 2015/2016 event was …
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change/once…

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web search NEUTRAL — Scientists predict a 'super' El Nino for 2026. This all comes before a potential "super" El Nino that's expected to hit later this year.Forecasts say that there is a 61% chance that El Nino will emerg…
https://www.dw.com/en/forest-fires-drought-heavy-rain-extrem…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.