Celebrated author John Vaillant on our new era of megafires: ‘The world changed because we changed it’
The award-winning writer is one of The Independent’s inaugural Climate 100 List and spoke at the launch event in New York on September 25

Julia Musto
Thursday 26 September 2024 18:49 BST

Award-winning writer John Vaillant provided a captivating yet disconcerting view of our new era of megafires at the launch of The Independent’s Climate 100 List, telling the audience: “The world we thought we knew is changing because we changed it.”

Vaillant, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his book, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, is part of the inaugural 2024 class of The Independent’s Climate 100 List. The Vancouver-based writer uses both fiction and non-fiction to illuminate often overlooked consequences of human impact on the environment. Fire Weather was awarded the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2023.

He spoke at Climate 100’s launch event in New York City on Wednesday, alongside keynote speaker, former British prime minister Theresa May, leading Gen Z climate activist Wawa Gatheru, and The Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew.

The Independent’s Climate 100 List celebrates the remarkable achievements of change-making activists, scientists, philanthropists, political figures, business and tech leaders, and more, tackling the most urgent challenge of our time. The list was published to coincide with Climate Week NYC, one of the climate world’s biggest annual events.