logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2023
13m 26s

This Is Canada's Worst Fire Season In Mo...

NPR
About this episode
Canada is having its worst fire season in modern history. The fires have burnt more than 20 million acres, casting hazardous smoke over parts of the U.S. and stretching Canadian firefighting resources thin. Public officials and many news headlines have declared the fires as "unprecedented," and in the modern-sense they are. But NPR climate correspondent Nate Rott has been talking to researchers who focus on the history of wildfire in Canada's boreal forests and they say the situation is not without precedent.

Want more stories on the environment? Drop us a line at shortwave@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Today
Sea Camp: To Mine Or Not To Mine
Deep sea mining for rare earth elements could start as early as 2026, even as 38 countries have called for a moratorium on it. The metals that companies are targeting are used in many green technologies like electric cars and wind turbines – but mining them is destructive to the ... Show More
13m 17s
Aug 22
Could labs replace your natural chocolate?
Chocolate may fill grocery store shelves around the world, but the raw product that powers chocolate is far more selective. The majority of chocolate farms are found in West Africa and South America – just 20 degrees north or south of the equator. Each farm produces chocolate of ... Show More
8m 50s
Aug 20
The Yellowstone Wolf Controversy
Thirty years ago, park rangers reintroduced grey wolves into Yellowstone National Park. They wanted to restore the ecosystem and get the elk population, which had decimated the plant community, in check. And it worked – or so the popular narrative suggests. But is it really so si ... Show More
13m 55s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2023
Fighting Canada’s Unending Fires
The wildfires sweeping Canada have become the largest in its modern history. Across the country, 30 million acres of forest have burned — three times as much land as in the worst American fire in the past 50 years.The scale has forced an international response and a re-evaluation ... Show More
27m 11s
Jun 2022
Fighting Fire with Fire
Year after year, wildfires have swept through Northern California’s wine and dairy country, threatening the region’s famed agricultural businesses. . Evacuation orders have become a way of life in places like Sonoma County, and so too have exemptions to those orders. Officials in ... Show More
50m 39s
Sep 2020
A Self-Perpetuating Cycle of Wildfires
When many in California talk about this year’s wildfires, they describe the color — the apocalyptic, ominous, red-orange glow in the sky.The state’s current wildfires have seen two and a half million acres already burned.Climate change has made conditions ripe for fires: Temperat ... Show More
24m 24s
Sep 2020
What's Driving California's Biggest-Ever Wildfire Season
California set a new record high this week for the most acres burned in a single wildfire season. In an average season, 300,000 acres burn. This year more than 2 million acres have been scorched — and the season isn't over yet. Some communities have taken actions to prevent fires ... Show More
13m 6s
Aug 2019
Why is the Amazon rainforest burning?
On Monday, Canada pledged $15 million to help fight fires in the Amazon rainforest. That's on top of the $26.5 million the G7 pledged at the conclusion of this weekend's gathering in France. But why are so many of these fires ablaze in the first place? Today on Front Burner, we t ... Show More
21m 43s
Aug 2021
Our Fire Conversation Needs to Change
Several wildfires are burning in Northern California — again. Fire is now a regular part of our lives, and we need to address it with the nuance and complexity it deserves. But in order to do that, we need to rethink how we talk about and report on fire in the first place. Today, ... Show More
19m 54s
Oct 2020
World on Fire
Last year wildfires in the Amazon made headlines news. This year we've hardly heard about them - but that doesn't mean they're not happening. In fact the number of rainforest fires in Brazil rose by almost 20% in June, reaching a 13 year high, according to government data. Some e ... Show More
27m 43s
Oct 2022
Prescribed Burns Started a Wildfire, But Experts Say They're A Crucial Tool
After a prescribed burn became the largest wildfire in New Mexico history earlier this year, the U.S. Forest Service put a ninety day ban on controlled burns. But while these kinds of burns do carry risk, very few escape, and they are a crucial tool in reducing the risk of catast ... Show More
14m 38s