Walt Patterson, Associate Fellow, Energy Environment And Resources, Chatham House

03 07 20

KS3-5/ S1-6

Why can’t you breathe in Beijing or Delhi? Why are governments wrangling over the Arctic seabed? Why have we ever more extreme weather worldwide? The answer is fire. Fire in heaters, furnaces, engines and power stations is poisoning air in megacities everywhere. Feeding fire is why governments worry about fuel supplies. Fire produces the carbon dioxide upsetting global systems. Fire threatens our future. Fire, however, has let us control electricity. Electricity, in turn, may save us from fire. Electricity vs fire is the fight for our future.