Wildfires are a major environmental problem in many parts of the World, including some European countries around the Mediterranean where large
forest fires have often spread uncontrollably at frightening rates in recent years. Such fires play a critical role in many aspects of ecosystem functioning, such as biodiversity and hydrology. They can destroy large tracts of the landscape, as well as triggering the release of considerable amounts of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, thereby affecting the global atmospheric chemistry of our planet.