India, Dec. 19 -- Wildfires in the tundra, the cold, treeless biome of the Arctic, have been more active this past century than at any time in the past 3,000 years, according to a study conducted in Arctic Alaska.

The research was conducted by an international team of researchers from Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, Romania and the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Toolik Field Station.

The team, according to a statement by the university, took a multidisciplinary approach to reconstructing fire history. "Their findings point to record-high activity caused by increasing woody plants and drying soils, two consequences of warming temperatures," the statement noted.

To reconstruct wildfire activity, the team cored half a metre into tun...