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Showing posts with the label Wildfires

Wildfires rage in Arctic Circle as Sweden calls for help

The Guardian Sweden worst hit as hot, dry summer sparks unusual number of fires, with at least 11 in the far north. More here.

Is B.C. headed for another devastating summer of wildfires?

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Canada’s National Observer Ashcroft Reserve wildfire as seen across Loon Lake, BC. July 2017  Photo by Shawn Cahill. With warm weather, a high snowpack and floodwaters rising throughout the province, it may seem like B.C. is set to repeat last year’s weather patterns, which led to a catastrophic summer of fires. But it’s still too early to reliably predict…. More here.

Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future - a new book by Edward Struzik

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The Science Writers and Communicators of Canada is pleased to announce the winners of this year's book awards for books published in 2017.   The winner in the general audience category  is  Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future by Edward Struzik . A summary. For two months in the spring of 2016, the world watched as wildfire ravaged the Canadian town of Fort McMurray. Firefighters named the fire “the Beast.” It acted like a mythical animal, alive with destructive energy, and they hoped never to see anything like it again. Yet it’s not a stretch to imagine we will all soon live in a world in which fires like the Beast are commonplace. A glance at international headlines shows a remarkable increase in higher temperatures, stronger winds, and drier lands– a trifecta for igniting wildfires like we’ve rarely seen before. This change is particularly noticeable in the northern forests of the United States and Canada. These forests require fire to maintain healthy

Tree rings reveal increased fire risk for southwestern US

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Nature The Pacheco fire in New Mexico. 2011. Photo by John Fowler. Historical record points to climate patterns that could prime the region for an intense fire season. Story here.

Houses built too close to bush spread huge California fires on 'front line of climate change'

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CBC news California wildfires from the International Space Station.  NASA/Randy Bresnik State's 'new normal' is a fire season 70 days longer than just 15 years ago. Story here.

As 'Epic Winds' Drive California Fires, Climate Change Fuels the Risk

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Inside Climate News Santa Ana winds are whipping up wildfires in Southern California after a devastating season in wine country. Rising temps can make the West dangerously combustible. Story here. USDA photo

Climate Change Health Impacts Demand Urgent Action

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Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment  “The human symptoms of climate change are unequivocal and potentially irreversible – affecting the health of populations around the world, today. Whilst these effects will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in society, every community will be affected.” Details here. Wildfires in Portugal.  Wikimedia Commons.

'Makes it more extreme:' Prof says climate change added to historic fire season

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CBC news For every degree the temperature rises, there's a 12 per cent increase in lightning. Story here. Ashcroft Reserve wildfire as seen across Loon Lake, BC.  Shawn Cahill

Fort McMurray fires cause air pollution spike on other side of continent

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CBC news Smoke from Alberta fire was so massive the plumes created their own environmental system. Story here. Near "Fort Mac" spring '16. Photo by  DarrenRD

Fire damages ranches in southwestern Alberta

The Western Producer Damage has been reported to farms and ranches on the perimeter of Waterton Lakes National Park as a wildfire continues to burn in southwestern Alberta. Details here.

Waterton National Park, Canada remains under evacuation as wildfire grows to 8,500 hectares

CBC news Weather forecast calls for high winds on Saturday and Sunday, which is a concern for firefighters. Story here.

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

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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

CBC news 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

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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.

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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 w

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

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

Will God Save Us From The Wildfires?

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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 h

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. RELATED Arctic’s Boreal Forests Burning At ‘Unprecedented’ Rate Alaska Entering New Era for Wildfires Alberta Wildfires Costliest Disaster in Canadian History

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

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                                                        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 .