Burning up
The skies outside my home near Whistler, BC, are blanketed in smoke from all the fires south of the border. With this constant reminder of forest fires hanging over our heads, I thought I would re-post this piece I co-wrote last year with Mike Flannigan, Director of Canada Wildfire at the University of Alberta, for the Our Future On Earth 2020 report... (to chase down the references, open the PDF linked here). Burning Up Fire on the planet today is different than it has ever been before.16 Climate change is increasing wildfire hazard over the majority of the planet, while a growing human presence is creating more sources of ignition and putting more infrastructure in the path of flames. Policies of fire suppression have made some forests more prone to larger fires. And the intentional clearing of rainforests for agriculture with fire is altering those landscapes forever – and creating deadly smoke. There isn’t necessarily more fire: wildfire activity today is actually less than it was...