When Forests Burn: Understanding Canada's Wildfire Crisis and Europe's New Age of Fire
I n recent years, wildfire smoke has turned the skies of New York orange, forced the evacuation of entire Canadian communities, devastated Mediterranean villages, and spread across continents, reminding the world that wildfires are no longer local environmental disasters. They have become one of the clearest manifestations of a changing climate and one of the most complex environmental challenges of the twenty-first century. Understanding modern wildfires requires looking beyond burning forests to the intricate interactions among climate, ecosystems, atmospheric chemistry, public health, and human society. For centuries, fire has been one of nature's oldest ecological engineers. Long before humans learned to harness flames for warmth and survival, forests across the planet experienced natural cycles of burning and regeneration. Many ecosystems evolved alongside periodic fires, developing remarkable adaptations that allowed plants, animals, and microorganisms not merely to survive ...