The unprecedented drought that's crippling Montana and North Dakota

theguardian

It came without warning, and without equivalent. Now a flash drought is fuelling fires and hurting the lives of those who work the land. Story here.

Look Around: The Costs of Not Acting on Climate Are Adding Up Fast

Common Dreams

From major hurricanes and flooding to droughts and fires, the refusal to accept the science of global warming is getting very expensive. Story here.
Ashcroft Reserve wildfire in BC, Canada,

seen across Loon Lake. Shawn Cahill

Military to help evacuate 3 Manitoba First Nations at risk from wildfire

CBCnews

Fire prompted evacuation of Wasagamack First Nation, partial evacuations of Garden Hill, St. Theresa Point. Story here.

THE FUTURE IS HERE FOR THE NEW GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Sierra Club of BC

A wildfire in the Okanagan region of BC a few years ago, from space. NASA.

Record-breaking wildfires and heat waves are a reminder that we have little time to save nature, phase out fossil fuels and leap to a low-carbon economy, all at the same time. Story here.

Thanks to climate change, forest fires will likely become more common and widespread in Canada.

Environmental Research Letters

Control fire -- NWT, Canada. (USDA Forest Service photo.) 

As summer weather becomes increasingly drier and warmer, the risks of forest fires increase and their manageability decreases. A new study has modelled the key forest fire factors in boreal forests within the framework of changing climate models, and the results aren't hopeful: future forest fires will likely rage stronger and be much more difficult to contain than ever before. Researchers looked at three main predicting factors in forest fires: forest fuel types (in other words, what burns up in a forest fire: species of trees in the forests, type of forest and shrub cover, presence of lichens, wood chips or mosses on the ground surface); weather scenarios for the next 80 years; and fire behaviour (how the fire will spread, how fast it will travel, how intense it is, etc.) Their findings showed that the proportion of days in fire seasons with the potential for unmanageable fire will increase across the Canada's forest, more than doubling in some regions in northern and eastern boreal forest.

FULL STORY HERE.

B.C. wildfire smoke triggers air quality statement for southwestern Manitoba

CBCnews

Smoke could cause issue for people living with asthma, irritate eyes. Story here.

Will God Save Us From The Wildfires?

by Larry Powell

Did you hear them interview Walt Cobb on CBC Radio this week about the BC wildfires? 

They asked him if he thought, as the world's leading climate scientists do, that wildfires have become "the new normal."

Here's his response.

“I don’t necessarily agree with that. There’s always been changes…Like my wife said the other morning…this is in somebody else’s hands… God has lined up what’s going to happen. And we’ll have to live with that."

So who is Walt Cobb, you ask? Some ordinary guy off the street? Not exactly. He is the Mayor of Williams Lake, B.C. (l.) That's a city of 10 thousand - now almost a ghost town. It was ordered evacuated due to unprecedented fires burning in the region.

Does he strike you as a guy who has a clue about the science? I can't really see him being on the front lines of efforts to wean ourselves off fossil fuels toward more sustainable, renewable energy sources. Can you?

If that is the most he has to offer, as an important elected representative, he needs to step aside and let someone who, instead of having their head in the heavens, has both feet on the ground.

I know plenty of people who believe in God yet still embrace the now well-proven science of manmade climate change, too. Obviously, Mayor Cobb is not one of them. His is an example of religiosity that is not harmless and a walking example of the need for a clear separation of church and state.

l.p.

These NASA Images Show Siberia Burning Up

CLIMATE CENTRAL

Siberian wildfire season is off and running with multiple blazes searing the boreal forest and tundra. It’s the latest example of the vast shifts happening to the forests that cover Siberia and the rest of the northern tier of the world as climate change alters the landscape. Details here.

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Wildfires used to be rare in the U.S. Great Plains. They’ve more than tripled in 30 years

                                                        The Washington Post    

West Texas - 2011. Staff Sgt. Eric Harris

The grasslands of Great Plains have seen one of the sharpest increases in large and dangerous wildfires in the past three decades, with their numbers more than tripling between 1985 and 2014, according to new research. Story here.

62 dead in central Portugal forest fires

CBCnews

Heat from fires so intense, crews having trouble approaching flames. Details here.

Why are fire seasons longer? People.

High Country News

New research finds illegal campfires, cigarette butts and other accidental ignitions have nearly tripled the (US) wildfire season. Story here.

Coconino National Forest, Arizona. 
Jonathan Horn photo.

'Dante's Inferno' in Chile: Destructive Fires Rage in Record Heat

EcoWatch

Records tumble in infernos in Chile. Details here.

California Forests Failing to Regrow After Intense Wildfires

 inside 

climate

 news

Huge, destructive fires are more common with climate change, and the loss of regeneration threatens to exacerbate global warming. Story here.

Planet In Peril.- a Snapshot of Our Climate Crisis. (Video) PLEASE WATCH!

California wildfire brings destruction, uncertainty; 82,000 people in 34,000 homes threatened

Chicago Tribune

A ferocious wildfire had swallowed up many homes as it spread across 40 square miles of mountain and desert east of Los Angeles. Exactly how many, however, and to whom they belonged, remained uncertain. Story here.

'Lives are going to be shortened:' Fort McMurray firefighters fear for health

CBC News

The health toll of the wildfire remains unknown. Story here.

One of North America’s Biggest Peat Bogs Burns Near Vancouver

CBC News

The challenge is to extinguish fire before it moves underground. Story here.

RELATED: "These Fires Are Huge, Hidden and Harmful. What Can We Do?"

These Fires Are Huge, Hidden And Harmful. What Can We Do?

ensia

Smouldering peat gives off massive quantities of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, but the search for solutions is on. Story here.

RELATED: "One of North America' Biggest Peat Bogs Burns Near Vancouver."

"Only Heroic Efforts Will Spare Earth's Mighty Boreal Forest From the Worst Ravages of Climate Change."

You Can Give Them Back Their Summers

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Forest fires are not an unusual thing in the Northwest Territories, but the summer of 2014 went beyond anything Yellowknife residents had seen before. The air quality index was at 10 or worse – the worst it can be – for much of the summer because of all the smoke. Story here.

RELATED: "B.C. remains quiet over polluted Hullcar aquifer"

As Peatlands Dry Out From Climate Change, Wildfire Risk Increases

CBCnews

'Megafires' result from severe drying, says McMaster researcher. Story here.

RELATED: "Only Heroic Efforts Will Spare Earth's Mighty Boreal Forest From the Worst Ravages of Climate Change."