In June, this year became the worst wildfire season in Canadian history. Fires burned throughout the country. And there’s almost surely more to come. So far, over 10 million hectares have burned, sending toxic smoke from province to province and into the United States, where tens of millions of people were put under air quality advisories. The smoke caused some of the worst – on some days the worst – air quality in the world in major North American cities including New York and Toronto.

The 2023 wildfire season, driven by what’s known as “fire weather,” may be a window into our future. As climate change runs amok and hotter, drier temperatures make wildfires more common and harder to control, we risk having to endure a brutal, deadly, and ecologically destructive new normal. So, what does fire weather mean for our future?

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with John Vaillant, journalist and author of Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast.