How can we stop wildfires?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Canada is in the grip of the worst wildfires in recorded history. Blazes are devouring millions of acres of forest, forcing more than a hundred thousand people from their homes. Toxic smoke has blanketed cities across North America.
Why are wildfires getting more frequent and intense across the world?
Part of the reason is climate change, but part of it is also population growth and land management. The question is, what should we do about it? How can we stop wildfires?
Contributors: Mike Norton, Director General of the Canadian Forest Service Liz Goldman, World Resources Institute Jon Keeley, senior research scientist with the US Geological Survey and adjunct professor at the University of California Matt Oakley, fire investigation officer and wildfire officer, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service
Presented by Tanya Beckett Produced by Louise Clarke Researched by Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty Edited by Tara McDermott Mixed by Kelly Young Production Co-ordinator Brenda Brown
(Wildfires at Lebel-sur-Quevillon in Quebec, Canada June 23 2023. Credit: Frederic Chouinard/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:10.6 | Find it wherever you get your BBC podcast. |
| 0:14.0 | Welcome to the inquiry with me, Tonya Beckett. |
| 0:17.8 | One question for expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:23.0 | On June 7, 2023, New Yorkers woke up to a sky that was coloured an eerie orange. |
| 0:35.0 | Let's turn to extraordinary pictures now from North America where tens of millions of people |
| 0:40.0 | have been warned about potentially dangerous air quality as intense wildfires burn across Canada. |
| 0:46.0 | The haze hangs over Marshall. |
| 0:48.0 | Schools across the United States East Coast cancelled outdoor activities. |
| 0:53.0 | Airline traffic slowed and millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors and wear masks |
| 1:00.0 | to protect themselves from potentially toxic fine particles in the air. |
| 1:07.0 | The source of the pollution was many hundreds of kilometres north in Canada. |
| 1:12.0 | America's neighbour was in the grip of the worst wildfires in recorded history. |
| 1:18.0 | From coast to coast, hundreds of blazes were devouring millions of acres of forest, |
| 1:24.0 | forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes and blanketing cities across North America |
| 1:30.0 | in clouds of toxic smoke. |
| 1:33.0 | And the problem is expected to get worse on a global scale. |
| 1:38.0 | The number of wildfires across the world is increasing and by the end of the century |
| 1:44.0 | they're predicted to double in number. |
| 1:47.0 | This week on The Inquiry, we're asking, how can we stop wildfires? |
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