WASHINGTON POST • June 10, 2023
For the past few years, it has felt like fire is everywhere. In 2020, a wave of smoke and fire washed over the West Coast, burning over 10.2 million acres, and creating the second and third worst smoke days in U.S. history. (New York City’s orange Wednesday claimed the top spot this week.) Just six months earlier, Australia suffered through what is now known as the Black Summer, a months-long series of bushfires that sent native wildlife fleeing and swallowed lush coastal cities with wildfire smoke. Last year, the worst wildfires in two decades torched large swaths of Spain, Portugal, and Romania; in Northwest Spain, fires destroyed ecosystems and devastated local communities. Scientists say climate change plays a role. Stephen Pyne, emeritus professor at Arizona State University, calls it – the “Pyrocene.”