Tremendous amounts of soot, lofted into the air from global wildfires following a massive asteroid strike 66 million years ago, would have plunged Earth into darkness for nearly two years, new research finds. This would have shut down photosynthesis, drastically cooled the planet, and contributed to the mass extinction that marked the end of the age of dinosaurs.

August 19, 2017 5:00 AM
MACAO (Portugal) • Forest fires have cut off a village of 2,000 people in Portugal, as firefighters struggled to control two major blazes in the centre of the country, local officials said.

Flames and smoke surround Mação, making it impossible to enter or leave – the latest in country’s deadliest year for fires
Forest fires have cut off a town of 2,000 people in Portugal, as firefighters struggle to control two large blazes in the centre of the country.

Flames and smoke surround Mação, making it impossible to enter or leave – the latest in country’s deadliest year for fires
Forest fires have cut off a village of 2,000 people in Portugal, as firefighters struggled to control two major blazes in the centre of the country.
“It’s impossible to leave or to enter Mação because of the flames and the smoke,” Vasco Estrela, the mayor of Mação village, told the Lusa news agency.

Two military aircraft will help detect and map wildfires in the U.S. West.

Extreme weather across southern Europe has spawned and fanned numerous wildfires, including at the beach resort of Kalamos near Athens and in central Portugal

August 13, 2017 1:20 AM
PIETRACORBARA, France (AFP) - Firefighters managed to contain huge wildfires in Portugal and the French island of Corsica on Saturday (Aug 12), though hot weather meant the risk of them spreading again remained high.

A 28-year-old man has been arrested in Pavia, Lombardy, on suspicion of setting fire to hedges and rubbish bins
A volunteer firefighter has been filmed starting a blaze in northern Italy at a time when the country is struggling to cope with a spate of wildfires.

A 28-year-old man was arrested in Pavia, Lombardy, on suspicion of setting fire to hedges and rubbish bins before returning to his force’s base, alerting colleagues and rushing with them to put the blaze out. Police said he was suspected of having started at least seven fires since 2014.