Four Million Acres Have Burned in California. Why That's The Wrong Number To Focus On.

Wildfires in the West are producing a parade of chilling statistics. More than 4 million acres have burned in California, the most in recorded history. Colorado saw it's largest wildfire and in Northern California, the August Complex has passed the one-million-acre mark, generating an entirely new term: "gigafire."

Still, some fire scientists warn that focusing on these record-breaking numbers could do more harm than good.

Extreme fires this year have taken a massive human toll, both on those evacuated from their homes and on millions of others breathing unhealthy air. Some experts say the focus on acres burned obscures those human costs.

The emphasis on acreage also does little to reframe our relationship with fire, since it implies bigger fires are always "bad."

Fire scientists say returning some fire to the landscape is key to reducing the destructiveness of future fires, either by