Maintaining focus: An introduction to anthropogenic fire

Stephen Pyne

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

The capture of fire by the genus Homo changed forever the natural history of the Earth. Even today fire appears at the core of many popular scenarios for an environmental apocalypse. Yet the larger history of fire - the varied ways human societies have sought to use and control fire, the trajectory of change over centuries if not millennia - is not well known. This paper sketches a conceptual framework for understanding the ecology of anthropogenic fire and how such fire practices compete with natural ignition sources and with the industrial combustion of fossil fuels.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)889-911
Number of pages23
JournalChemosphere
Volume29
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1994

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • General Chemistry
  • Pollution
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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