Wildfires in Sweden Signal Europe’s Climate Disaster Is Growing

Hannele Arvonen, the owner of one of Sweden’s largest lumber yards, is spending the winter months planning for a new and unexpected threat to her business: regular wildfires raging just south of the Arctic Circle.

Her business, Setra Group AB, had a tense summer as firefighters fought back fires raging through Sweden’s densely forested Gaevleborg region during a drought that lasted months. Workers there are still painstakingly trying to recover sellable wood from the charred remains of tree stumps.

Fire burns in Karbole, Sweden, in July. Due to the dry weather, 80 wildfires burned in Sweden.

Photographer: Mats Andersson/AFP/Getty Images

The incident is one of dozens highlighting the cost of a rapidly changing climate across Europe. The insurer Munich Re ...