About the Cover

Although usually permanently frozen, carbon-rich peatlands across this 3-km-wide stretch of Arctic tundra burned on 18 June 2020. The true-color image is overlaid by an IR filter that shows the fire hot spots. Arctic fires were exceptionally widespread during the 2019, 2020, and 2021 fire seasons compared with those of the past 20–40 years. See page 17 to learn more about the complex set of interactions that affect high-latitude wildfires. (Satellite photo created by Adrià Descals; imagery acquired by the European Space Agency.)