France fires: 'What burns is not just forests, but a way of inhabiting the land that is no longer possible'

In 2003, during a historic heatwave in France, we discovered that people could die from heat. Thousands of elderly, isolated and vulnerable people perished largely unnoticed. The heatwave exposed the weaknesses of our healthcare system and our social organization. We learned, with difficulty, to better protect bodies: alert plans, health monitoring, prevention and adapting healthcare facilities. But the 2026 heatwave has been something else entirely. No longer are only individuals at risk, but entire regions: extreme heat now goes hand in hand with megafires, the destruction of whole landscapes, the collapse of environments and the evacuation of entire towns. The health crisis has become a crisis of habitability.

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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Le Monde (EN).