of greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution. so, one degree might not sound like a huge amount at first glance, but actually that's been more than enough to shift the frequency of many episodes of extreme weather, and that includes both droughts and heatwaves. these conditions have really special significance for wildfires, of course, because it's in these conditions that living vegetation can dry out. so can the dead leaves and twigs and other litter on the forest floor. and all you really need in this situation is for an ignition source, such as from humans, or from lightning, to start a fire, and a fire can quickly grow out of control. fire has always been a part of life in these parts of the world, but with the increasing frequency of really significant wildfires, what's the knock—on implications and consequences for the environment? essentially, what happens when you have an increase in the amount of area burned by fires is that you place a greater proportion of a forest landscape