Third Day of the Icon, 24th of the Dog Days, 526 M.E. (Castor): As wildfires are ravaging France and Spain, forcing some 250,000 people to evacuate their homes, and people worry about the Amazon rain forest, it's worth recognizing that it's Africa that has the highest rate of forest loss in the world. About 9.6 million acres of African forest, or about 15,000 square miles, were destroyed each year between 2010 and 2020.

Africa’s forests occur as rainforests in moist regions of central and west Africa, mostly in the Congo Basin, and in the vast Miombo woodlands, a warm, dry forest area in southern Africa. Clearing forests to make way for agricultural land is the main reason for deforestation in Africa, but unsustainable fuelwood harvesting, logging, and mining are also drivers. 

Severe, heatwave-driven wildfires are also occurring in North Africa, notably in Algeria, where extreme temperatures reaching up to 120° F have resulted in six deaths and over 1,500 blazes since early July. 

Here in the U.S., the third major heat-dome event this month is gathering strength over this weekend, spanning an area from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Plains and the Midwest. A heat dome occurs when a high-pressure atmospheric system acts as a sort of lid, trapping heat in place over a region for days or even weeks.

About 70 million people are expected to face excessive heat advisories as dangerously hot temperatures scorch much of the country’s southern and central states. Temperatures of 95 to 105° F are expected, with some areas of the southwest U.S. potentially reaching 120. The elevated heat is expected to linger into the coming week. But as long as it's not actively raining, I'm still going to take my alternating day walks. What doesn't kill you will make you predictable.

This whole planet is going up in flames! Talk about Dog Days! Where's that meme of a dog in a burning house saying "this is fine" when you need it?