Natural fires are as essential as sun and rain in fire-adapted forests. But according to fire ecologist Chad Hanson, as humans encroach on wild spaces, fear, arrogance, and greed have shaped the way that people view these regenerative events and have given rise to a great deal of misinformation about wildfires. Hanson says the peril that these myths pose to forests is profound-affecting whole habitats and the wildlife that depend on them. The exploitation of these carbon dioxide-absorbing ecosystems also threatens humanity's chance of overcoming the climate crisis. Join Chad Hanson as he explains why much of what we believe about wildfires is wrong.
Dr. Chad Hanson is a research ecologist and the director of the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, located in Big Bear City, California, and has a Ph.D. in ecology with a research focus on fire ecology in conifer forest ecosystems. His latest book is Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate. Dr. Hanson has published dozens of peer-reviewed studies on forest and fire ecology, and is also the co-editor and co-author of the 2015 book, The Ecological Importance of Mixed-Severity Fires: Nature’s Phoenix.