Opinion Today: Wildfires come for the Northeast

A place that doesn't usually worry about drought is battling an unusually high number of wildfires this season.

View in browser|nytimes.com November 19, 2024 By Eliza Barclay Climate Editor, Opinion Residents of the Northeast United States are not accustomed to worrying about drought. Indeed, the Gulf Stream reliably dumps moisture on the region — except when it doesn't. Lately the Northeast, along with large swaths of the rest of the country, has been afflicted by unusually dry conditions; parts of some states, including Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, have even reached "severe drought" status. And when long stretches of dry weather combine with heat and wind, you also have to worry about wildfires. In a guest essay published on Monday, the author and journalist John Vaillant, who grew up in Massachusetts, describes the baffling transformation of the region this fall into a place battling hundreds of wildfires, some of them thousands of acres in size, with no end in sight. While brush fires in the fall are common in the region, what's different this year is that there are far more than usual, and bigger ones than usual, and some are proving unusually difficult to fight. When a newspaper reporter from Provincetown, Mass., asked Vaillant if the pitch pine and scrub oak forests of Cape Cod could burn like the Western forests he wrote about in his book "Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World," Vaillant said yes, though it felt "strange, almost traitorous" to do so. "The idea of those trees burning never occurred to me before this year," he writes. Shifts like these are not a blip, according to Vaillant. "We must recognize this moment for what it is: the beginning of a new era of civilizational retreat, contraction and consolidation." Read the guest essay: Rosie Clements for The New York Times Guest Essay Ladies and Gentlemen, the Northeast Is Burning We are being reminded the hard way that we share this world. Smoke knows no boundaries, and neither does fire. By John Vaillant Here's what we're focusing on today: Editors' Picks What a School Performance Shows Us About Japanese Education A look into the Japanese educational system's delicate balance between teamwork, discipline and personal growth. By Ema Ryan Yamazaki More From Opinion Guest Essay The World Is Watching the U.S. Deal With Bird Flu, and It's Scary The U.S. needs to reassure the world it has the outbreak under control. By Tulio de Oliveira The Ezra Klein Show Trump Kicks Down the Guardrails Anne Applebaum on how to think about autocracy and authoritarianism in a second Trump term. 1 HR 6 MIN LISTEN Guest Essay Putin Sees America Hurtling to Disaster, With Trump at the Wheel To the Kremlin, the president-elect is a harbinger of American collapse. By Mikhail Zygar Paul Krugman The Dollar Still Has Its Mojo. X, Not So Much. Ruining a network is hard, but Elon Musk shows it's possible. By Paul Krugman Guest Essay Don't Blame Polling Why it can't fix our messy politics. By Nate Silver Peter Coy How Elon Musk's and Vivek Ramaswamy's Government-Slashing Spree Could Backfire If they're not careful, they could make the government's efficiency problems worse. By Peter Coy The Opinions Trump's Win Terrifies Me. Why Don't Boys My Age Care? Naomi Beinart, 16, on the gender divide that the election revealed at her high school. 7 MIN LISTEN Biden's Parting Gift to Ukraine Could Also Help Trump Trump can stop the missiles to be used against Russia, but he may not want to. By Serge Schmemann Kenny Holston/The New York Times letters Trump's 'Game of Chicken' With Appointments Readers discuss the president-elect's staff selections. Also: A bill to fight obesity; teaching core skills; Social Security math; alcohol and fine art. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Games Here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle and Spelling Bee. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here. Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. If you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other issues, visit our Help Page or contact The Times. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Opinion Today newsletter from The New York Times. To stop receiving Opinion Today, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018