Science
How Ancient Humans Tamed Fire — and Why Wildfires Now Threaten to Reverse That Progress
Fire was humanity's greatest invention, but the same fossil fuels we burn today are making wildfires fiercer and more dangerous than at any time in recorded history. New research traces this troubling loop from prehistoric hearths to smoke-choked modern skies.
290 teragramsCarbon released by North American wildfires in 2020
The facts
- 1Early humans began controlling fire at least 1 million years ago, according to archaeological evidence from Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa — one of the oldest known fire-use sites on Earth.
- 2Wildfires across North America released roughly 290 teragrams of carbon in 2020 alone — equivalent to the annual emissions of about 63 million cars, according to NASA estimates.
- 3Smoke from large wildfires can travel thousands of kilometres; the 2019–2020 Australian bushfires sent particulate matter all the way to South America, measurable in Antarctic ice.
- 4People with asthma, heart disease, or other chronic conditions face the highest health risk from wildfire smoke, because tiny particles called PM2.5 can reach deep inside the lungs.
- 5The Smithsonian Institution notes a grim feedback loop: burning fossil fuels warms the planet, which dries out forests, which fuels bigger fires, which release more carbon — accelerating the very warming that started the cycle.
Why it matters
Wildfires are not just a distant problem for North America or Australia. India's AQI already spikes dangerously each winter, and climate-driven droughts are expanding fire risk across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding this feedback loop matters for public health policy, energy choices, and how every country manages its forests.
Sources
- Smithsonian Institution
- NASA
- Wonderwerk Cave archaeological record (University of Toronto)
