Blazes burning with the intensity of 'atomic bombs': Europe enters a new era of mega fires

The vast blazes ripping through southwestern France burned so intensely they created a powerful, fire-generated thunderstorm. This rare phenomenon is sometimes seen in the kinds of megafires that afflict the US and Canada, but was unprecedented in France, until now — and it’s just one sign that Europe is entering a new fire era, experts say. Europe has always had wildfires, but they are becoming increasingly extreme as the climate crisis tightens its grip. Firefighters in France and Spain have this week been trying to tame blazes more ferocious and more erratic than anything they’ve tackled before. On Wednesday, authorities...