The devastating fire in Maui is the most recent reminder that uncontrolled fires are happening more often, in more places, at a more harmful scale than ever before, and will only continue to do so as climate change contributes to our warming planet. Writers are grappling with these realities, looking back for lessons even as they forecast and foreshadow the future. Here are three nonfiction titles engaging with this topic:
Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant
Journalist Vaillant digs into the story of the May 2016 fire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, that forced the evacuation of 88,000 residents, many of them barely escaping as the fire roared at their back. The fire, next to the center of Alberta’s oil sands operations, took over a year to fully extinguish. Vaillant digs into the causes of the blaze, the impact on residents, and the warning it provides of dry weather and fires to come. Longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
If Fire Weather’s backdrop of Alberta’s oil sands piqued your interest, check out this graphic narrative. Fresh from college and laden with student loans, cartoonist Beaton followed so many of her Nova Scotian brethren and left home to pursue more lucrative work, working for two years in various jobs in and around the vast mining operation. Beaton examines the toll of the sexism and misogyny she experienced, the grueling labor performed by others, and the environmental devastation caused by fossil fuels. Winner of two Eisner Awards.
The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell
Taking a broader and more future-oriented approach, experienced environmental journalist Goodell tackles the frightening current and potential impacts of extreme heat on our daily lives, from heat waves, to fires, to higher incidence of infectious diseases, to reduced food production and impacts on water supply. Grounding his analysis in stories of impacts on individual lives, Goodell makes his case for globally coordinated action to slow global warming.
~ posted by Andrea G.
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