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Major cities in North America are experiencing some of the worst air quality in the world, largely as a result of wildfires raging out of control across Canada. Some 100 million people are being blanketed by toxic smog and thick nicotine yellow skies with schools closed, sporting events cancelled, and air travel disrupted. Every year there are wildfires, but this scale is unheard of in Canada. Stephen Pyne is a professor at Arizona University, a fire historian and author of The Pyrocene: How we created the age of fire and what happens next. He explains why he thinks we need to "learn to live in the fire age". (Photo: People cross 34th Street in Herald Square as heavy smoke fills the air on June 7, 2023, in New York City. Credit: Getty Images)