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More than 1000 fires burning in Canada right now (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 year ago by Wats0ns@sh.itjust.works to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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[-] MyDogLovesMe@sh.itjust.works 79 points 1 year ago

Canadian here. This is, for many provinces the worst year ever recorded for forest fires. One fire is larger than our smallest province. It’s very bad. Not sure there is a “normal” though as each year can be highly variable, and different measures for what is normal. Gonna get worse too as we move into the coming few years, imo.

[-] where_am_i@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 year ago

worst year, so far.

[-] inasaba@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

This is the worst part. I remember in 2003, BC had what was considered at the time a devastating fire season, with over 130,000 hectares burned. It was so bad that artists came together to create an art book to remember it by, and to sell to raise money for displaced residents. The largest single fire that year was 32,000 hectares.

Then in 2009 there was a 67,000 hectare fire.

Then in 2014 there was a 133,000 hectare fire.

Then in 2017 there was a 545,000 hectare fire, a 241,000 hectare fire, and a 192,000 hectare fire. Over 1.2m hectares total burned. The next year, 1.3m hectares burned. Now that has been exceeded in 2023, and the season is only half over.

Just think about it. In 2003, we couldn't possibly imagine worse destruction than 130,000 hectares burned. And now we're easily exceeding ten times that area year after year.

Look at how bad it is now, and imagine how much worse it's going to get. The drought is only getting worse. Western red cedars have all started dying in some areas. The destruction the Interior saw as a result of the Mountain Pine Beetle will come to the south: the most populated area of the province, and the area with the fewest ways to evacuate, as it is locked between the border to the south, mountains to the north, and the ocean to the west.

The losses will be immense.

[-] xuxebiko@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

That sounds awful.

[-] MyDogLovesMe@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 year ago

Canada is big enough that, as bad as it is right now, most of us are still just doing our regular <cough, cough> lives. Until autumn comes around and the fires abate.

Or, specifically, “we’re steadfastly continuing to feed the global machine that greases the wheels of climate change….”

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 year ago

IDK where you live, but many cities in Ontario had for the first time ever air quality issues so severe that people were advised to remain indoors as much as possible. Nobody has really been able to ignore it.

[-] Electricorchestra@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

In Sask those are just part of summer life. I swear the only reason the media has picked this story up is because it's affecting Ontario.

[-] Curious_Canid@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

...because it's affecting the US.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

Well yeah, duh. Wildfires affecting a part of the world that has never been affected by wildfires is particularly noteworthy. Especially considering it's where almost all of Canada's population lives.

[-] xuxebiko@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

“we’re steadfastly continuing to feed the global machine that greases the wheels of climate change….”

the whole world is :(

and we're killing of plants and animals while doing it :(

[-] keeb420@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

i dont want to do it but i dont want to homeless either. this timeline sucks.

[-] tegs_terry@feddit.uk 6 points 1 year ago

Because 99% of the population live in the southernmost 1% of the country.

[-] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Climate crisis, climate change makes it sound like if it'd be something good, neutral, or that it is happening because of external reasons rather than because of capital.

[-] sam@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 year ago

Even the fires know better than to get near Winnipeg.

[-] omgarm@feddit.nl 13 points 1 year ago

What is normal for this time of year? 1000 sounds insane but I want to know if 10 or 0 is normal.

[-] Pat@kbin.run 14 points 1 year ago

Don't know specifics, but this is Canada's worst fire season since 1990.

[-] liori@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

Good question! I quickly found this table, though this is yearly statistics only: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510019201

[-] hglman@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

So a full season of all outdoor fires in each of 2017, 18, and 19.

[-] adespoton@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

And we’ve had “more than usual” since 2016.

[-] Lemmylaugh@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Every timeline seems to start from 2016

[-] inasaba@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Number of fires is honestly a terrible metric: you could have 1000 fires the each the size of a backyard and it would sound worse than one fire the size of New Brunswick, but the latter is obviously worse.

Looking at the amount of area burned, this is the worst fire season on record so far.