Wildfires will be more common in a warming world
Clever design of buildings and infrastructure can limit the damage
CALIFORNIA BURNS every year. But amid a record-breaking heatwave, 2020 is the fieriest year yet (see map). As The Economist went to press, more than 7,600 fires had burned over 2.5m acres (1m hectares) of land. The season still has months to run.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Learning to live with it”
From the September 12th 2020 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Elon Musk is causing problems for the Royal Society
His continued membership has led to a high-profile resignation
Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions
Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier
Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques
They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes
Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad for you
A mystery is finally being solved
Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever
Concerns about some of their business models are building
The two types of human laugh
One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else