The catastrophic runaway wildfires advancing through North America and other parts of the world are not unprecedented. Fires loomed large once human activity began to warm the climate in the 1820s, leading to an aggressive firefighting strategy that has left many of the continent’s forests too old and vulnerable to the fires that many tree species need to regenerate. Dark Days at Noon provides a broad history of wildfire in North America, from before European contact to the present, in the hopes that we may learn from how we managed fire in the past, and apply those lessons in the future. As people continue to move into forested landscapes to work, play, live, and ignite fires – intentionally or unintentionally – fire has begun to take its toll, burning entire towns, knocking out utilities, closing roads, and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. Fire management in North America requires attention and cooperation from both sides of the border, and many of the most significant fires have taken place at the boundary line. Despite a clear lack of urgency among political leaders, Edward Struzik argues that wildfire science needs to guide the future of fire management, and that those same leaders need to shape public perception accordingly. By explaining how society’s misguided response to fire has led to our current situation, Dark Days at Noon warns of what may happen in the future if we do not learn to live with fire as the continent’s Indigenous Peoples once did.
Author(s): Edward Struzik
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 324
City: Montreal
Cover
DARK DAYS AT NOON
Title
Copyright
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Prelude to the Dark Days at Noon
2 The Fire Triangle
3 More Dark Days Coming
4 The Big Burn
5 Big Burns in Canada
6 Paiute Forestry
7 Fire Suppression
8 The Civilian Conservation Corps
9 Canada’s Conservation Corps
10 The Fall of the Dominion Forest Service
11 The Royal Commission into Wildfire
12 White Man’s Fire
13 International Co-operation
14 Blue Moon and Blue Sun
15 Nuclear Winter
16 Yellowstone: A Turning Point
17 Big and Small Grizzlies
18 Climate and the Age of Megafire
19 The Holy Shit Fire
20 The Pyrocene
21 Nuclear Winter: Part Two
22 Owls and Clear-Cuts
23 Water on Fire
24 The Arctic on Fire
25 The Big Smoke
26 Fire News
Conclusion
Illustrations
Notes
Index
