Wildfire Firefighters Are Getting a Helping Hand Just in Time
A new generation of satellites is able to pinpoint blazes before they spread.
People watch a wildfire burning in Castrillo de Cabrera, northwestern Spain, on Aug. 16.
Photographer: CESAR MANSO/AFPNothing speaks more to the hell that climate change is creating on Earth than the wildfires tearing through our landscapes. In recent days, Spain and Portugal have battled ferocious blazes, killing at least six and charring an area twice the size of London, as Europe suffers its worst wildfire season on record, surpassing 1 million hectares burned.
Climate change plays a huge role by creating hotter, drier and windier conditions — perfect for ignition. Cycles between extreme wet and dry also provide far more fuel by sparking bursts of vegetation that then dries out. That said, the global picture on wildfires isn’t as simple as climate crisis = more wildfires.