On Fire

From Australia to Greece to California, rampant fires have devoured miles of land over the course of the year. Foreign Policy recently posted a list of the world’s worst forest fires, which, despite being mostly natural phenomena, sometimes require outside intervention to prevent catastrophes. Most of them are not isolated events, but rather cyclical ones. Certain countries are simply said to have a “fire season." The culprits of the fires are often droughts, some of which have been fueled by climate change. Indeed, a number of the recent dry seasons across the world began months earlier than usual. However, the problem of these fires is sometimes man-made. The predominance and expansion of certain economic structures and the industries within them, such as agriculture and construction, can generate perverse political and economical incentives for arsonists. Unfortunately, the article’s predictions are rather dire. Read the full list here.