The Missoulian (Missoula, Montana) June 24, 2920

Lance Olsen

It’s not fire’s fault that we’re steadily handing it a hotter, drier world. But there it is.

As we gear up for another year of fighting fire in the summer of 2020, we still have time to pause and ponder how we’ve encouraged it. Namely —  thanks to our firing up the fossil fuels, thus emitting heat-trapping CO2 to the atmosphere — we’ve been forcing the world into increasingly frequent, intense, and persisting rounds of heat.

Then, on the heels of heat, increasingly frequent, intense, and persistent drought.

This new frequency, intensity, and persistence of heat and drought has thrown open the door to more frequent, more intense, and more persistent fire.

There’ll be more of it, and it’s going to get worse. After all, we’re not done firing up the fossil fuels.

Scientists have studied the story…