As the World Burns
Combustion Engines; There Will Always Be Fires

Manning, Richard; Sayare, Scott
http://harpers.org/archive/2018/08/as-the-world-burns-the-age-of-mega-fires/
Publisher:  Harper's Magazine
Year Published:  2018
Resource Type:  Article

A two essay report that examines the causes and costs of large wildfires. The first essay titled "Combustion Engines" takes a look at a 'mega-fire' that raged across Montana in 2017, placing blame on global warmimg, mismanagement by authorities, and the building of houses in high rish areas. The second essay, "There Will Always Be Fires", describes the conditions that led to huge blazes in Portugal which are largely attributed to the introduction of of the highly flammable eucalyptus.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

The fires that Sayare and Manning investigate were mega-fires, defined as blazes that burn more than 100,000 acres. In the past three decades, the number of mega-fires has been increasing exponentially: before 1995 there was an average of less than one per year; in the past decade the average has increased to ten each year.

Until Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world come up with effective strategies for managing a fire-prone landscape-such as prescribed burning, and managing wildfires to restore the healthy patchwork of forests that existed more than 150 years ago - and until we deal more efficiently with climate change, greed, and improper home construction, regrettably, there will only be more mega-fires in the future.
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