A book about a fire that ravaged a Canadian city and has been called a portent of climate chaos won BritainB次元官网网址檚 leading nonfiction book prize on Thursday.

John VaillantB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淔ire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter WorldB次元官网网址� was awarded the 50,000 pound ($62,000) Baillie Gifford Prize at a ceremony in London.

The chair of the judging panel, Frederick Studemann, said the book tells B次元官网网址渁 terrifying story,B次元官网网址� reading B次元官网网址渁lmost like a thrillerB次元官网网址� with a B次元官网网址渄eep science backdrop.B次元官网网址�

He called B次元官网网址淔ire Weather,B次元官网网址� which was also a U.S. National Book Award finalist, B次元官网网址渁n extraordinary and elegantly rendered account of a terrifying climate disaster that engulfed a community and industry, underscoring our toxic relationship with fossil fuels.B次元官网网址�

Vaillant, based in British Columbia, recounts how a engulfed the oil city of Fort McMurray in 2016. The blaze, which burned for months, drove 90,000 people from their homes, destroyed 2,400 buildings and disrupted work at AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 lucrative .

Vaillant said the lesson he took from the inferno was that B次元官网网址渇ire is different now, and weB次元官网网址檝e made it differentB次元官网网址� through human-driven climate change.

He said the day the fire broke out in early May, it was 33 Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) in Fort McMurray, which is about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of the Arctic Circle. Humidity was a bone-dry 11%.

B次元官网网址淵ou have to go to Death Valley in July to get 11% humidity,B次元官网网址� Vaillant told The Associated Press. B次元官网网址淣ow transpose those conditions to the boreal forest, which is already flammable. To a petroleum town, which is basically built from petroleum products -B次元官网网址� from the vinyl siding to the tar shingles to the rubber tires to the gas grills. B次元官网网址� So those houses burned like a refinery.B次元官网网址�

Vaillant said the fire produced radiant heat of 500 Celsius B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渉otter than Venus.B次元官网网址�

Canada has experienced many devastating fires since 2016. The country endured its worst wildfire season on record this year, with blazes destroying huge swaths of northern forest and blanketing much of Canada and the U.S. in haze.

B次元官网网址淭hat has grave implications for our future,B次元官网网址� Vaillant said. B次元官网网址淐anadians are forest people, and the forest is starting to mean something different now. Summer is starting to mean something different now. ThatB次元官网网址檚 profound, ItB次元官网网址檚 like a sci-fi story -B次元官网网址� when summer became an enemy.B次元官网网址�

Founded in 1999, the prize recognizes English-language books from any country in current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. It has been credited with bringing an eclectic slate of fact-based books to a wider audience.

Vaillant beat including best-selling American author David GrannB次元官网网址檚 seafaring yarn B次元官网网址淭he WagerB次元官网网址� and physician-writer Siddhartha MukherjeeB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Song of the Cell.B次元官网网址�

Sponsor Baillie Gifford, an investment firm, has faced protests from environmental groups over its investments in fossil fuel businesses. , Katherine Rundell, gave her prize money for B次元官网网址淪uper-Infinite: The Transformations of John DonneB次元官网网址� to a conservation charity.

The judges said neither the sponsor nor criticism of it influenced their deliberations.

Historian Ruth Scurr, who was on the panel, said she did not feel B次元官网网址渃ompromisedB次元官网网址� as a judge of the prize.

B次元官网网址淚 have no qualms at all about being an independent judge on a book prize, and I am personally thrilled that the winner is going to draw attention to this subject,B次元官网网址� she said.

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