火の構造やしくみを概説し「自然発火する火」と「人による火の利用」を考察します。森林での自然発火は自然の循環として太古の昔から繰り返されており、人が鎮火しなくても良いものと捉えることもできます。しかし鎮火後の水源涵養機能の喪失や土砂流出による洪水被害の拡大、生態系のバランスが崩れるなど、代償は決して小さくはありません。都市部で人為的要因で起きる火災に対する新しい防除方法や、温暖化が野生生物に与える影響を踏まえての火と気候の関係性も含め広く検討します。
　　

• Covers the fundamentals of fire, both wild and under human control, including the basics of ignition, combustion, and fuel
• Describes the 400-million-year history of fire on our planet, and the environmental and human impact of wildfires
• Discusses the role of fire in human development
• Considers the problem of fires in urban settings, including new ways to prevent fire damage
• Explores approaches to managing wildfires near human settlements

  
Fire is rarely out of the headlines, from large natural wildfires raging across the Australian or Californian countrysides to the burning of buildings such as the disasters of Grenfell tower and Notre Dame. Fire on these scales can represent a serious risk to human life and property. But the advent of fire made and controlled by humans also represented a crucial point in our evolution, allowing us to cook our food, forge our weapons, and warm our homes.
             
This Very Short Introduction covers the fundamentals of fire, whether wild or under human control, starting with the basics of ignition, combustion, and fuel. Andrew Scott considers both natural wildfires and the role of humans in making and suppressing fire. Despite frightening reports of wildfire destruction, he also shows how landscape fires have been part of our planet's history for 400 million years, and do not always have to be extinguished. He also considers the problem of fires in urban settings, including new ways to prevent fires. The cost of wildfire can be steep - as well as the burning, post-fire erosion and flooding can have a great impact on both humans and the environment. It can also have a lasting effect in shaping ecosystems and plant life. Scott ends by examining the relationship between fire and the climate, and considering the future of wildfire in a warming world.