Europe Has Descended Into the Age of Fire

The land isn't actively controlled with vegetation-thinning and deliberate burns, making it more difficult to manage wildfires. The problem is that we as a society have only responded to a problem. We haven't built up the management of the flora and fauna.

Climate change is part of the demographic change. There is a Mediterranean climate that is prone to wildfire. The growth of plants is encouraged by the rainy winters and springs. The conditions have been made hotter by climate change. Pyne said it was a performance enhancer. Climate change is making those conditions even worse.

Pyne is interested in seeing fire moving into Central Europe. The Mediterranean has had a wet-dry cycle in the past, but this region has a more warm climate. Even if the region hasn't already been stuck in a years-long dry spell, wildfires can feed on conditions that change hourly during heat events, even if the region hasn't already been stuck in a years-long dry spell If a hot, dry wind whips through, it can cause a lot of trouble. The vegetation is now kindling, but the big trees are still moist and resistant to burning. Pyne says that you don't need to parch the landscape to the point where it's all fire. You can have very fast, hot fires if you have enough fine fuels in your possession.

Europe's "fire regime" is changing due to the hotter it gets. The amount of energy released when it burns increases as the vegetation becomes dry. The lack of water will increase the power of the fire and cause it to spread more quickly. Some of the fires are difficult to stop.

The best way to reduce the risk is to thin excess vegetation and do more controlled burns. This can be difficult to sell to the public. He says that he was raised in a world where every fire is incorrect. Smoke can make respiratory conditions worse. Massive, out-of-control fires that choke communities for days on end are the alternative. On days when the smoke doesn't reach people, firefighters do controlled burns.

It might seemcounterintuitive to argue against fewer flames. The fix is to fight fire with fire. There isn't enough people to do the prescribed burning. There isn't enough support for the idea of prescribed burning.