It seems like everything is on fire out West

Wildfires scorch the West; 50 million people are living in modern slavery.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

A Marxist scholar explains why reparations might not solve inequality in the latest episode of 40 Acres, a Vox Conversations mini-series hosted by Fabiola Cineas.

 Read more here.

The worst US wildfire season in a decade

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

• Monday, firefighters continued battling wildfires that have forced evacuations and created hazardous air quality in California, Oregon, and Washington. [Guardian / Dani Anguiano]
• At least 92 wildfires have scorched 728,000 acres, mainly in the Northwest, as high temperatures and dry conditions make blazes stronger. [CNN / Nouran Salahieh]
• In California, the Mosquito Fire has burned 73 square miles, is only 10 percent contained, and could destroy 5,000 buildings. About 11,000 people in two nearby counties are under evacuation orders. [Associated Press]
• Meanwhile, 5,000 firefighters are fighting 18 fires that have burned more than 400 square miles across Oregon and Washington as of Saturday. [CBS News / AP]
• More than 49,000 fires have burned across the US this year so far, making 2022 the most active wildfire season in a decade. [National Interagency Fire Center]
• Scientists predict that intense wildfires will become more common: Even with dramatic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, the risk of extreme blazes could increase 14 percent by 2030. [Washington Post / Bryan Pietsch]

📍 If you read just one story

Vox’s Neel Dhanesha explains why recent heat waves challenge California’s power grid. [Vox / Neel Dhanesha]

50 million people endure modern slavery

• Fifty million people worldwide were trapped in “modern slavery” at the end of last year, up 25 percent from 2016, according to UN estimates released Monday. [AP / Jamey Keaten]
• Modern slavery includes forced labor or forced marriage perpetrated using threats or intimidation; about 27.6 million modern slaves faced forced labor, and another 22 million forced marriages. [BBC / David Molloy]
• The Covid-19 pandemic, war, and climate change were found to have worsened economic inequality and increased the risk of modern enslavement, especially for women and children. [CNN / Rhea Mogul]
• The report recommends strengthening labor laws and raising the minimum age for marriage to 18, among other measures to get rid of modern slavery. [Guardian / Annie Kelly]

Vox explains who’s likely to control Congress, Trump’s role in races, and everything else you need to know about the 2022 midterm elections. [Vox / Li Zhou, Nicole Narea, and Christian Paz]

• Ukraine has reclaimed territory in the northeast and captured Russian prisoners of war. [AP / Elena Becatoros and Hanna Arhirova]
• Donald Trump’s lawyers asked a judge to block the Justice Department from reviewing documents seized last month from Mar-a-Lago. [CBS / Melissa Quinn]
• A new analysis suggests the midterms might be worse for Democrats than is currently believed: Democratic Senate candidates are polling better than expected in states that overestimated support for Joe Biden in 2020. [New York Times / Nate Cohn]

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“We know what needs to be done ... an all-hands-on-deck approach is needed. Trade unions, employers’ organizations, civil society, and ordinary people all have critical roles to play.”

[International Labour Organization director general Guy Ryder on ending modern slavery / BBC]

40 Acres: The old Jim Crow

Vox race and policy reporter Fabiola Cineas speaks with Marxist scholar Adolph Reed about alternatives to reparations: policies and resources he believes would do more to create a more equitable society.

40 Acres was made possible by a grant from the Canopy Collective and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. To provide feedback, please take our survey here.

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