Wildland fires and the environment: A global synthesis

Description

During 1997 and 1998, relatively small-scale, human-initiated fires for land clearing and landuse change quickly developed into uncontrolled large-scale and widespread fires. These fires occurred in Southeast Asia, South and Central America, Africa, Europe, Russia, China and the United States. These uncontrolled and widespread wildfires were a consequence of extreme drought conditions apparently brought about by the 1997 El Niño. On a daily basis, these wildfires were reported on the front pages of the world’s newspapers and on television and radio throughout the world. Internet websites described the daily, and in some cases hourly progress of these wildfires.