The fires in Alberta were impacting air quality in the Upper Midwest of the US recently and now I see fires in Nova Scotia impacting the northeastern US. I wonder if the new fires will drop any soot on the Greenland ice sheet and speed up the ice melt.
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Last edited by pianozach; 06-03-2023, 06:40 AM. -
It's super sad to see Canada burn like it is. The place we used to go was close to a museum dedicated to Canadian Bushplane firefighting (https://bushplane.com/) which we went to several times, and clearly the Canadian's have been dealing with these sorts of fires for a long time and are relatively good at it, but this year definitely feels worse than prior years. It's been relatively dry in this part of the world recently and our weather has been coming from the east here which is very unusual, so we've been getting hot but dry days with highs around 90 F with no humidity to speak of, which no doubt is contributing to the troubles up north.
Here's hoping they get some much needed rain to help get things back under control...Comment
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I live about 1,000 miles (1,600 Km) from the wildfires in Alberta and there were days when we had reduced visibility and a strong stench of smoke when the weather systems pulled the smoke down to ground level around here.Comment
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It's almost two months later and the Alberta wildfires are still going strong.
I see fire have been causing problems in Europe, too.
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Political news and discussion is prohibited here, but, in reality, even environmental news like this is inherently political, as discussions regarding Climate Change have become political fodder.
The time for progressive action to mitigate the CC consequences was 20 or 30 years ago.
It's likely too late now. The razor blade of Climate Change has tilted far enough that the effects are sliding off.Comment
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I would say yes it's worth a visit. There were three tourist attractions that we would visit when we went up that way - Bushplane museum, lock tour (which was really fun especially after they opened the old historic lock on the Canadian side), and there's a train ride that we enjoyed quite a bit. Enjoy!Comment
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There have been enormous wild fires since long before man started some of them. Just like there has been many ice ages, and heat ups, long before man started using fossil fuels. It's called nature. And the sun will do what the sun will do. Regardless of a gas stove or Al Gore and John Kerry's private planes and SUV's...
My place burned down during the Thomas Fire. Which was started by Southern California Edison. My hometown looked like the Apocalypse for at least a week. My thoughts to all affected in and around the Canadian fires.
Last edited by Somis Sound; 07-24-2023, 03:59 PM.Comment
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This month, so far, is set to be the hottest month in 100,000 years. It's expected that this record will not stand for long, as climatologists expect that there will be even hotter months in the very near future.
Around 100 heat records could fall today through the weekend.
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This drives me crazy. Climate change shouldn't be political at all. The science behind it is just about as settled as smoking being bad for you. But hey, why not turn everything that moves into a wedge issue so that we never get anything done about it. It's the most cynical and yet childish thing imaginable. Anyone playing that game should be barred from ever running in elections.Comment
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I remember that vividly. We live right up the road on the other side of the the Camarillo Grade. I can't imagine the life-altering inconvenience of having most of your possessions go up in smoke. I recall you'd posted some photos of the aftermath on the Old Yesfans.
There have been enormous wild fires since long before man started some of them. Just like there has been many ice ages, and heat ups, long before man started using fossil fuels. It's called nature. And the sun will do what the sun will do. Regardless of a gas stove or Al Gore and John Kerry's private planes and SUV's...
My place burned down during the Thomas Fire. Which was started by Southern California Edison. My hometown looked like the Apocalypse for at least a week. My thoughts to all affected in and around the Canadian fires.
Well, actually, I can. Most of my apartment building blew up in 2002, just months after 9/11. The building was a 3-story, 4 apartment wide construct, in a complex with 8 similar buildings. We were on the 2nd floor, on the end, and the neighbor two doors down disconnected his stove, let the apartment fill with natural gas, and when it ignited, it took 3/4 of the building with it. Our apartment survived, but the people above us had significant fire damage, while those below us had significant flooding.
The firemen kicked down the door of every apartment, as, at the time, they thought it was a possible post 9/11 terrorist attack, and wanted to inspect every domicile. Unfortunately, three days later it was determined that the entire complex was contaminated with asbestos from the kicked down doors. While we were able to get many of our valuables out, most of the other tenants felt they had no need to bother, as their apartments hadn't been damaged, other than busted out windows and balcony doors.
They locked out ALL residents for months due to the contamination, and when they were finally cleared to retrieve their belongings, they found that all valuables had been looted, as the Security provided was poor. The looters were able to take their time with the entire complex abandoned. They went through my LP collection and actually took OOP George Harrison LPs (which are no longer OOP now) and a White Album on white vinyl. They opened every CD and took only the ones autographed by band members. They grabbed my old camera equipment. We even had a large dresser disappear. But we got off easy. Other residents had computers, TVs, jewelry, appliances, and other expensive stuff "vanish".
Obviously, a class action suit was filed, and the residents got a pittance of what would qualify as restitution. Obviously, I moved on.
I never got to hear the story of how you put your lives back together. I'd love to hear it. Of course, the 2017/2018 Thomas Fire destroyed over a thousand buildings (mostly in the first month of the fire, in December), and was the largest wildfire in California history, until the Ranch Fire in 2018. Now, only 6 years later, the Thomas Fire is only ranked the 10th largest.
Yeah, the weather conditions (mostly a strong and long duration Santa Ana wind event) caused the poorly maintained SoCal Edison infrastructure to ignite the blaze. Although they never fully admitted fault, in September 2020, Edison announced a combined settlement of $1.16 billion with the insurance companies over the Thomas Fire and the Montecito Mudslide.
Underscoring that fire is a significant lesson: In a world of extremes fueled by climate change, fires are no longer predictable, safe zones are no longer safe and certainty is no longer certain. In California climate change is expected to generate more and more droughts, heat waves and high-wind events.
Yet this lesson is merely a symptom of a disease, not the cause. Yes, most wildfires are sparked by human activity, but climate change is to blame for their rapid, unpredictable spread in recent years and the resulting devastating losses.
Higher temperatures, drier conditions, increased fuel availability, and growing warm seasons, which are all linked to climate change, are increasing wildfire risk in California.
Like it or not, research indicates a direct causal link between human-induced climate change and increased wildfire risk in California. Climate change has contributed to California's longer fire seasons, the growing number and destructiveness of fires and the increasing area of land consumed.
I recall back in 2016 we'd joke that California's "Fire Season" now lasts from June to May. It's not so amusing anymore.
So here we are in 2023, and here's a typical headline:
‘No one wants to be right about this’: climate scientists’ horror and exasperation as global predictions play out
‘What we are living through now is just the beginning’
Last edited by pianozach; 07-27-2023, 09:47 AM.Comment
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