Wildfire-derived deforestation, climate, and biodiversity variables analysis in Cambodia

In Southeast Asia, Cambodia has the highest rate of wildfire, and during the early 2000s, fire activity has dramatically grown. Since wildfires are frequently multidimensional, it is still challenging to assess the relative significance of each component. Assessment of the environmental condition is highly dependent on forest fire, climate, biological, and biophysical aspects investigation using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and MODIS data. This study created a framework for identifying concerns connected to forest fires in Cambodia between 2005 and 2023. There were 975.90 km² of observed afforestation and 35561.33 km² of deforested area due to the forest fire. The annual average rainfall observed between 2005 and 2023 shows 9.76 mm decreased while evapotranspiration increased by 24.85 mm. While Cambodia's surface temperature decreased by 2.72 °C, latent heat (LE) increased from 0.14 W/m² (2005) to 0.22 W/m² (2023). Surface temperature and precipitation have negative correlation values of −0.48 (2005), −0.55 (2010), −0.54 (2015), −0.52 (2020), and −0.38 (2023). Forest fires have had a major impact on Cambodia's ecosystem and climate. This study enhances the present comprehension of the causes of forest fires in Cambodia, and the methodological framework created has great potential for application to other regions of the world that are prone to forest fires.