Understanding the History of Fire Can Help Us Fight Today’s Biggest Blazes

Lessons From the Past and Warnings for the Future in 400 Million Years of Geological Record

Charcoal fragments are black, often small, and generally unremarkable. Most people would not realize it if they were to come across one. But over the past 40 years or so, Earth scientists have been revealing the story of fire through time by examining these little bits of carbon embedded in rocks throughout the world.

Understanding the history of wildfire is relatively new. That’s because fire science often falls between the cracks in established disciplines. As the well-known historian of modern fire Stephen Pyne has pointed out, while many universities have fire …

Megafires Are Getting More Dangerous—But We Can Better Prepare for Them | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Megafires Are Getting More Dangerous—But We Can Better Prepare for Them

To Coexist With a Fierier Planet, We Need to Stop Viewing Fire as the Enemy

Megafires—wildfires that burn more than 100,000 acres of land—have long been a fact of life across the American West and elsewhere. But as such fires grow larger and more frequent …

Streaming Tonight | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Streaming Tonight

Here’s How to Join ‘How Can Humans Coexist With Monster Wildfires?’

Click here to join the conversation, airing tonight at 6:30 PM PDT. To watch the discussion with captioning provided, click here. (Please note that live chat participation is available only …