Reacción a "Reactions to the wave of wildfires in the Iberian Peninsula"

Heat waves and large fires have always existed, but heat waves have not been so frequent and fires have not been so intense and disproportionate. These are no longer one-off extreme weather events. Climate change causes more intense heatwaves at unusual times and places. And the characteristics of today's landscape also lead to different fires, which are faster, more violent and completely beyond extinguishing capacity.

Since the middle of the last century, the fire regime has been changing rapidly (frequency, intensity and average area) but, above all, the socio-spatial context in which fires now occur is changing (simultaneity, uncertainty and vulnerability of the population). The "pyrotransition" or abrupt change in fire behaviour was a consequence of the destabilisation of the landscape due to the replacement of plant fuel (firewood) by fossil fuel (oil derivatives), which accompanied urban growth and the country's industrialisation process. Climate change has brought about new risk conditions. The problem we face today is different and requires different policies.