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Why Canada can’t put out just wildfires: NPR

Thick smoke from wildfires in Canada brought thick fog to much of the United States this summer. Here, a visitor to New York City stands on the observation deck of Rockefeller Center on a sunny day with a map showing the city’s landmarks in late June.

Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images


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Thick smoke from wildfires in Canada brought thick fog to much of the United States this summer. Here, a visitor to New York City stands on the observation deck of Rockefeller Center on a sunny day with a map showing the city’s landmarks in late June.

Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has filled U.S. skies with an unhealthy fog for weeks, marking the summer of 2023. The smoke raises many questions, from why the fires lasted so long to how the smoke continues to destroy the air quality of tens of millions of people in the United States.

For many people, smoke is worse than recent memory. And there are concerns that this will simply become the new normal. Should people in the Middle East simply get used to the idea that their summers are not blue skies and sunny days, but weeks of smoke?

To get answers about wildfires in Canada, NPR reached out to four experts:

  • Quinn Barberfire science analyst for the Canadian Forest Service in Alberta
  • Paige Fisheran environmental scientist at the University of Michigan
  • Daniel PerakisFire Research Scientist, Forest Service Canada, British Columbia
  • Sarah BuddState Intelligence Officer, Forest Fire Service, British Columbia

Below is their analysis of the wildfires, edited for length and clarity.

No, Canada can’t easily put out all the fires

“I don’t think there are enough firefighters in the United States to handle these fires, and there certainly aren’t enough firefighters in Canada,” Perakis said.

Many of the fires are in very remote areas, leaving it up to the provinces of Canada to decide which fires can and should be extinguished.

“Canada is the second largest country in the world, and almost half of it is forest,” says Barber. “Many of its forests are remote and pristine, making wildfires very difficult to manage in areas that lack access to roads and the infrastructure needed to support fire fighting.”

French firefighters work among the trees north of the city of Sibougamau, Quebec, in early June. France, the United States, Mexico and others have sent firefighters to Canada to help fight the unprecedented wildfires.

Quentin Tiberghien/AFP via Getty Images


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toggle caption

Quentin Tiberghien/AFP via Getty Images


French firefighters work among the trees north of the city of Sibougamau, Quebec, in early June. France, the United States, Mexico and others have sent firefighters to Canada to help fight the unprecedented wildfires.

Quentin Tiberghien/AFP via Getty Images

“All states follow one rule above all else. Life and safety are the top priorities,” Barber said. 2020 paper. “There are other values ​​to be protected such as communities, infrastructure, natural resource and environmental values,” he said. If wildfires do not jeopardize these values, they may continue to burn under surveillance.

Burning of Canada’s boreal forest is part of a natural cycle (details below). But fires can reach dangerous intensity, especially in the current situation.

“They burn Crown fire behaviorFueled by strong winds, Perakis added, “Winds can spread 50 meters per minute, 70 meters per minute, or 20 to 30 kilometers a day.” We’ve seen these scenes many times this season. ”

In such a dangerous place, it’s not worth taking the risk and sending firefighters in the path of the flames.

“The important thing to understand is that only fires that are allowed to burn are those that do not threaten human life, communities or other important values,” Barber said.

No, the wind doesn’t just blow smoke away

Smoke from the fires has affected people in the United States for days.Stubborn air circulation pattern As communities receive warnings about air pollution, tens of millions of people are forced to adjust their daily lives.

“I think the most insidious kind of impact is the persistence of these weather patterns,” Perakis said. “Once a masking ridge, a large mass of summer air that dries out all of the fuel, could in the past stay over the area for a week. Now we see this large ridge staying around much longer, so the fuel is drier and the smoke and circulation patterns are less dynamic. So things are actually staying longer and the jet stream is weaker.”

Upon reaching the United States, much of the smoke remains low, triggering orange and red alarms.A large amount of smoke also arrived EuropeHowever, for the most part, fine particles remain in the atmosphere at high concentrations, where health concerns are mitigated.

yes this has happened before

“There’s a paper from the early 1900s that goes all the way back to the 1700s and talks about smoky days in American cities, so this is one of the issues we had to deal with,” Perakis said.

Most of Canada’s wildfires occur in the remote boreal forests north of the region that includes the country’s largest city.

“These forests are really adapted to burn and are evolving to burn almost every 100 to 200 years,” Barber said. “Even if all the fires could be stopped, it would be a grave mistake for the forest ecosystem and would only lead to bigger fires in the future.”

“It’s actually beneficial,” says Perakis. “It does things like help with nutrient cycling in the soil and overall landscape resilience. You get a mosaic of different age groups and different forest types, which is what you want.”

“Some people say, ‘Well, this is climate change. This is terrible. I’ve never seen anything like this before.'”we have seen this many times.but it is [also] Climate change is much worse than we have ever seen,” he added.

As for smoke, “We haven’t done much about it for hundreds of years, and there’s not much we can do about it now. That doesn’t mean firefighters aren’t doing much, they’re doing it,” he said.

And yes: climate change is making things worse

the wildfire season will be intensified by climate change. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This also applies to Canada, the United States and other countries.

“Increasing heat and decreasing humidity due to man-made climate change are mechanisms that people should consider,” Fisher said.

These conditions set the stage for explosive wildfires in areas where trees, shrubs, debris and grass fuel the fires and can quickly develop into large wildfires from the first spark.

“The boreal forest has always burned, and as a result we are clearly burning more than in the past,” Perakis said. “Climate change is very serious. [arriving] quick. “

Smoke and fog from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia obscure the Toronto skyline in late June.

Ian Wilms/Getty Images


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Ian Wilms/Getty Images


Smoke and fog from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia obscure the Toronto skyline in late June.

Ian Wilms/Getty Images

As a result, the government and fire departments are busy responding.

“Fire-fighting capacity increases linearly each year. But what happens with fire behavior is that it is not a linear process,” Perakis said. “It’s all about exponential growth and extremes.”

Occupying large tracts of land is an extreme day and it is becoming more common, he added.

And yes this wildfire season is very bad

“This Canadian wildfire season is unprecedented and has caused the most damage on record in terms of area burned,” Fisher said.

“More than 10 million hectares (about 25 million acres) have been burned, which is larger than the country of Portugal,” Barber said.

“What’s unusual about this year is that fires broke out all over the country at the same time,” he said. “It’s rare to see this kind of fire activity at the same time across the country. The fires in Quebec, which are the main cause of the smoke that has affected the United States, are already burning more than 17 times more forest than normal, and the fire season is still only halfway through.”

There have been about 4,300 wildfires in Canada so far this year. Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. British Columbia has been particularly hard hit, with thunderstorms wreaking havoc on woodlands shaken by a prolonged drought.

“We saw about 16 consecutive days of convective activity and over 50,000 lightning strikes in seven days,” Rudd said from British Columbia. “These lightning strikes have been the leading cause of new wildfire outbreaks so far this season.”

British Columbia currently has more than 2,000 personnel working on the fires, mainly in the northern half.

“There are currently more than 300 international personnel in the province supporting response efforts, and the Canadian military will be adding additional personnel and air resources,” Rudd said.

These reinforcements will be used to give workers a break before returning to combat during the record-breaking Canadian wildfire season.

Summarize this content to 100 words Thick smoke from wildfires in Canada brought thick fog to much of the United States this summer. Here, a visitor to New York City stands on the observation deck of Rockefeller Center on a sunny day with a map showing the city’s landmarks in late June. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images Thick smoke from wildfires in Canada brought thick fog to much of the United States this summer. Here, a visitor to New York City stands on the observation deck of Rockefeller Center on a sunny day with a map showing the city’s landmarks in late June. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images Smoke from wildfires in Canada has filled U.S. skies with an unhealthy fog for weeks, marking the summer of 2023. The smoke raises many questions, from why the fires lasted so long to how the smoke continues to destroy the air quality of tens of millions of people in the United States. For many people, smoke is worse than recent memory. And there are concerns that this will simply become the new normal. Should people in the Middle East simply get used to the idea that their summers are not blue skies and sunny days, but weeks of smoke? To get answers about wildfires in Canada, NPR reached out to four experts: Quinn Barberfire science analyst for the Canadian Forest Service in Alberta Paige Fisheran environmental scientist at the University of Michigan Daniel PerakisFire Research Scientist, Forest Service Canada, British Columbia Sarah BuddState Intelligence Officer, Forest Fire Service, British Columbia Below is their analysis of the wildfires, edited for length and clarity. No, Canada can’t easily put out all the fires “I don’t think there are enough firefighters in the United States to handle these fires, and there certainly aren’t enough firefighters in Canada,” Perakis said. Many of the fires are in very remote areas, leaving it up to the provinces of Canada to decide which fires can and should be extinguished. “Canada is the second largest country in the world, and almost half of it is forest,” says Barber. “Many of its forests are remote and pristine, making wildfires very difficult to manage in areas that lack access to roads and the infrastructure needed to support fire fighting.” French firefighters work among the trees north of the city of Sibougamau, Quebec, in early June. France, the United States, Mexico and others have sent firefighters to Canada to help fight the unprecedented wildfires. Quentin Tiberghien/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Quentin Tiberghien/AFP via Getty Images French firefighters work among the trees north of the city of Sibougamau, Quebec, in early June. France, the United States, Mexico and others have sent firefighters to Canada to help fight the unprecedented wildfires. Quentin Tiberghien/AFP via Getty Images “All states follow one rule above all else. Life and safety are the top priorities,” Barber said. 2020 paper. “There are other values ​​to be protected such as communities, infrastructure, natural resource and environmental values,” he said. If wildfires do not jeopardize these values, they may continue to burn under surveillance. Burning of Canada’s boreal forest is part of a natural cycle (details below). But fires can reach dangerous intensity, especially in the current situation. “They burn Crown fire behaviorFueled by strong winds, Perakis added, “Winds can spread 50 meters per minute, 70 meters per minute, or 20 to 30 kilometers a day.” We’ve seen these scenes many times this season. ” In such a dangerous place, it’s not worth taking the risk and sending firefighters in the path of the flames. “The important thing to understand is that only fires that are allowed to burn are those that do not threaten human life, communities or other important values,” Barber said. No, the wind doesn’t just blow smoke away Smoke from the fires has affected people in the United States for days.Stubborn air circulation pattern As communities receive warnings about air pollution, tens of millions of people are forced to adjust their daily lives. “I think the most insidious kind of impact is the persistence of these weather patterns,” Perakis said. “Once a masking ridge, a large mass of summer air that dries out all of the fuel, could in the past stay over the area for a week. Now we see this large ridge staying around much longer, so the fuel is drier and the smoke and circulation patterns are less dynamic. So things are actually staying longer and the jet stream is weaker.” Upon reaching the United States, much of the smoke remains low, triggering orange and red alarms.A large amount of smoke also arrived EuropeHowever, for the most part, fine particles remain in the atmosphere at high concentrations, where health concerns are mitigated. yes this has happened before “There’s a paper from the early 1900s that goes all the way back to the 1700s and talks about smoky days in American cities, so this is one of the issues we had to deal with,” Perakis said. Most of Canada’s wildfires occur in the remote boreal forests north of the region that includes the country’s largest city. “These forests are really adapted to burn and are evolving to burn almost every 100 to 200 years,” Barber said. “Even if all the fires could be stopped, it would be a grave mistake for the forest ecosystem and would only lead to bigger fires in the future.” “It’s actually beneficial,” says Perakis. “It does things like help with nutrient cycling in the soil and overall landscape resilience. You get a mosaic of different age groups and different forest types, which is what you want.” “Some people say, ‘Well, this is climate change. This is terrible. I’ve never seen anything like this before.'”we have seen this many times.but it is [also] Climate change is much worse than we have ever seen,” he added. As for smoke, “We haven’t done much about it for hundreds of years, and there’s not much we can do about it now. That doesn’t mean firefighters aren’t doing much, they’re doing it,” he said. And yes: climate change is making things worse the wildfire season will be intensified by climate change. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This also applies to Canada, the United States and other countries. “Increasing heat and decreasing humidity due to man-made climate change are mechanisms that people should consider,” Fisher said. These conditions set the stage for explosive wildfires in areas where trees, shrubs, debris and grass fuel the fires and can quickly develop into large wildfires from the first spark. “The boreal forest has always burned, and as a result we are clearly burning more than in the past,” Perakis said. “Climate change is very serious. [arriving] quick. ” Smoke and fog from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia obscure the Toronto skyline in late June. Ian Wilms/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Ian Wilms/Getty Images Smoke and fog from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia obscure the Toronto skyline in late June. Ian Wilms/Getty Images As a result, the government and fire departments are busy responding. “Fire-fighting capacity increases linearly each year. But what happens with fire behavior is that it is not a linear process,” Perakis said. “It’s all about exponential growth and extremes.” Occupying large tracts of land is an extreme day and it is becoming more common, he added. And yes this wildfire season is very bad “This Canadian wildfire season is unprecedented and has caused the most damage on record in terms of area burned,” Fisher said. “More than 10 million hectares (about 25 million acres) have been burned, which is larger than the country of Portugal,” Barber said. “What’s unusual about this year is that fires broke out all over the country at the same time,” he said. “It’s rare to see this kind of fire activity at the same time across the country. The fires in Quebec, which are the main cause of the smoke that has affected the United States, are already burning more than 17 times more forest than normal, and the fire season is still only halfway through.” There have been about 4,300 wildfires in Canada so far this year. Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. British Columbia has been particularly hard hit, with thunderstorms wreaking havoc on woodlands shaken by a prolonged drought. “We saw about 16 consecutive days…
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/21/1188618934/canada-wildfires-answers Why Canada can’t put out just wildfires: NPR

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