Canada's wildfire season off to 'unprecedented' start - CNN

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/canada-s-wildfire-season-is-off-to-an-unprecedented-start-here-s-what-it-could-mean-for-the-us/ar-AA1cmIN3

Canada's wildfire has started early and furiously. Not only are climate change and El Nino causing unprecedented temperatures and turning massive Canadian boreal forests into a tinderbox, but Canada is also experiencing a firefighter shortage which could exacerbate the issues.

3 comments

GrindingGears

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It's bad, but let's not pretend like the United States isn't having issues with this as well. Or many other countries around the world. Western Canada chokes on the States smoke year after year, but heaven forbid if it comes from Canada one time..

0101010001110100

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I agree and I think it's only such big news right now because the smoke is affecting NYC.
That said, I grew up in Canada and wildfire season is a yearly occurence, but to have fires this widespread and this early in the year is by no means the norm.

By the way, this tool shows CO concentration and is a good way to see wildfires happening in real time and the directions the smoke is blowing. It gives you a good general idea of where/how bad fires are all over the world. There are toggles for air quality and lots of other factors too, it's a really interesting tool!

GrindingGears

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I'm in Alberta. We have had them this early, and otherwise had an OK season (ie 2016 Fort McMurray fire, which was obviously a disaster, but it was otherwise a quiet year in the south). Not sure about this year though, we haven't had rain for about a month, and there's some in the forecast, but it always seems to change. It's a natural process, and it's actually good for the environment at a macro scale, but it sure does suck when its happening. Well that, and our forestry management and development planning sucks and contributes to the problem.