So: an extreme August. Wildfires continued to blaze worldwide. I was especially saddened to hear about the wildfire in Tenerife, because I’d visited the island in 2018 and climbed Mount Teide. But the fires elsewhere were also dreadful, especially on the Hawaiian Island of Maui. However the Hawaii fires started, they were wind-driven, triggering evacuations, killing at least 115 people and leaving at least 388 missing. Meanwhile in Canada, 20,000 residents of the city of Yellowknife, were forced to flee the city due to wildfires. Some scientists were explaining this wasn't a local problem, with the amount of forest burning worldwide doubling in the last 20 years. Already overstrained emergency services have had their work cut out for them. The impression was of a situation that at least at times was becoming difficult for the institutions of civilisation to contain.