A warming planet and changes to land use patterns mean more wildfires will scorch large parts of the globe in the coming decades. According to a new UN report, wildfires will cause spikes in unhealthy smoke pollution and other problems that governments are ill prepared to confront.

According to a new report from the U.N. Environment Program, the western U.S., northern Siberia, central India, and eastern Australia already are seeing more blazes, and the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires globally could increase more than 50% by the turn of the century.

Areas once considered safe from major fires won't be immune, including the Arctic, which the report said was “very likely to experience a significant increase in burning.”

U.N. researchers said many nations continue to spend too much time and money fighting fires and not enough trying to prevent them. Land use changes can make the fires worse, such as logging that leaves behind debris that can easily burn, and forests that are intentionally ignited to clear land for farming.

The U.N. researchers also called for more awareness of the dangers from smoke inhalation, which can affect tens of millions of people annually as plumes from major wildfires drift thousands of miles across international borders.