Studies show wildfires often peak around July 4

America’s love of dazzling pyrotechnics comes with risks

7/3/24 5:23AM

Tomorrow, millions of Americans will celebrate July 4th, a holiday which — perhaps surprisingly — ranked joint 6th in a YouGov survey of America’s favorite days of the year (Christmas was first, Thanksgiving second, Halloween third, in case you were wondering).

Most people agree that some of the key ingredients for a good Independence Day bash include lots of hot dogs, as many mayonnaise-based salads as your table can fit, friends and family, and, of course, fireworks. But, America’s love of a dazzling display of pyrotechnics comes with risks.

In fact, a 2020 study by Mietkiewicz et al., originally published in The Conversation, found that the number of human-caused wildfires often spikes in the days around July 4th — an increase that’s largely attributed to the widespread use of fireworks during the holiday. This regular uptick exacerbates the pre-existing issue of human-caused wildfires in the US. Nearly 85% of wildfires between 2000 and 2017 were caused by humans according to data cited by the National Park Service.

As Reuters reports, wildfires aren’t the only issue caused by fireworks. The noise and light can disturb and endanger certain species of wildlife, and pollutants such as perchlorate can enter the food chain if not properly disposed of. Furthermore, most people don’t handle things-that-go-bang very frequently, leading to an uptick in visits to the emergency room: the chart of firework-related injuries is an even more extreme version of the one above. Stay safe!

Max Knoblauch12/12/25

In less than three weeks, Disney’s “Zootopia 2” becomes the second billion-dollar film of 2025

The global film industry officially has its second billion-dollar film of the year, as Disney’s “Zootopia 2” surged past the $1 billion box office mark in just 17 days. The other billion-dollar film this year, the live-action “Lilo & Stitch,” was also made by Disney.

“Zootopia” was the fastest to reach 10 figures of any animated film. The animated hit, which had the highest-grossing global debut of the year over Thanksgiving weekend, has benefited from massive numbers in China.

Disney also logged two billion-dollar films last year with “Inside Out 2” and “Moana 2.” (The latter also came out over the Thanksgiving holiday.) The only other film to cross the mark in 2024 was “Deadpool and Wolverine,” which featured Disney’s IP.

Millie Giles

Aus-tracized

12/11/25

Would a social media ban see chronically online teens turn to AI chatbots?

As Australia enacts a world-first ban, a survey finds more US teens are using social media — and chatbots — daily.

Tom Jones

comeback singles

12/10/25

Only six of the top 20 songs of 2025 so far are from this year

Most of the biggest songs of 2025 aren’t from 2025.

Tom Jones12/5/25

Charlie Kirk’s Wikipedia page was the top English-language article on the site in 2025

The day after his assassination in September, Charlie Kirk’s Wikipedia page was viewed over 170 times per second, or almost 15 million times, according to figures from the Wikimedia Foundation.

Like with most other years, the top entries of the year reflected the fact that millions flock to the platform to learn more about political figures, films, and fatalities.

Though there’s been much talk about the impact of AI-generated search summaries and chatbots on Wikipedia — not least from the platform itself — it’s still clearly a major go-to resource for anyone looking to learn a little about a lot online, especially if this week’s year-end figures are anything to go by.