A study led by Maik Billing at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research projects a 39 percent increase in annual burned area across Europe by the end of the century even under low-emissions pathways, with nearly triple the area under 3.6 °C warming. The research, published in Global Change Biology, also indicates that improved fire management could reduce projected increases by more than 70 percent. This summer's fires destroyed more than 6,000 square kilometers of forest at an estimated €15 billion cost.