EvC BONUS | Fire Weather: John Vaillant on the New Era of Extreme Fire

Energy vs Climate X Climate Books Reviews This week we're sharing an episode from Ed's other podcast, Climate Book Reviews, co-hosted with Dr. Roger Thompson of Arizona State University. Their guest is John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. (US and International - Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World)Many listeners will know Vaillant from his earlier books The Golden Spruce and The Tiger, both gripping works of narrative nonfiction. In Fire Weather, he turns his attention to the massive 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and what it tells us about the new era of extreme fire.In this episode:How the Fort McMurray fire burned for a week straight — and why traditional firefighting was uselessThe concept of "fire weather" and why wildfires are now generating their own atmospheric systemsThe oil industry's early awareness of climate change and the shift to deliberate misinformationAttribution science: can we prove a specific wildfire was caused by climate change?What hope looks like in the face of an altered climateChapters:00:00 Cold Open: When Firestorms Become Unstoppable01:00 Welcome & Introducing John Vaillant03:00 The Fort McMurray Fire: Inside the Inferno09:00 Writing Fire — Craft, Research & the Book's Structure17:00 Community Heroes & Local Response20:00 We've Altered the Climate: A Shift in Consciousness23:00 Fire Tornadoes & Australia's Black Summer28:00 Attribution Science: Proving Climate Change Caused This33:00 Fire Weather: The New Physics of Wildfire35:00 The Oil Industry Knew: The Greatest Betrayal40:00 The Rising Wave of Wildfire Literature42:00 Finding Hope in the Age of FireReferences & notesSend us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Follow us on:LinkedInBlueskyX/TwitterInstagramEnergy vs Climate relies on the support of our generous listenersDonate to keep Energy vs Climate goingProduced by Bespoke Podcasts