British Columbia wildfires now worst on record

VANCOUVER, 19 August 2017 (Xinhua) – The Canadian province of British Columbia has extended its state of emergency to Sept. 1 as its residents and fire crews continue to deal with what has become the worst wildfire season on record. The province-wide state of emergency means that those fighting the fires and dealing with the […]

Record-breaking smoke over Canada from British Columbia forest fires – “If and when the plume drifts over populated areas, it may turn day into night”

By Adam Voiland 15 August 2017 (NASA) – For more than a month, dozens of large fires have raged in British Columbia. Since early July 2017, wildfire has burned through coniferous forests stressed by heat, drought, and infestations of mountain pine beetles. In early August, another cluster of intense fires flared up in Northwest Territories […]

Greenland fires ignite global warming fears – “Fire itself will add to the problem and accelerate thawing of permafrost”

By JoAnna Wendel 11 August 2017 (Eos) – In a real clash of fire and ice, a massive wildfire in southern Greenland has captured the world’s attention.At the end of July, a couple of NASA satellites detected hot spots in Greenland that indicated fire, said Mark Ruminski, a team leader for a hazard mapping system […]

Canada wildfires “apocalyptic” – “In my experience and that of the pilots here, we’ve never seen anything like this”

By Adriana  Weber 9 August 2017 (Radio NZ) – A New Zealand helicopter pilot fighting enormous wildfires in Canada says everyone works in an ”apocalyptic twilight” amid the worst conditions he has experienced in 25 years. More than 200 wildfires are burning across the country, with the majority of those ablaze in British Columbia, which […]

We’re choking on smoke in Seattle

By Lindy West 9 August 2017 SEATTLE (The New York Times) – The weather forecast for Seattle on Wednesday reads “89 degrees, smoke.” We first noticed the smoke, drifting down from wildfires still burning in British Columbia, around Aug. 2, just as a heat wave sent temperatures spiking well into the 90s (the historical average […]

Global warming blamed as EU forest fires treble in 2017

By Chris Harris 27 July 2017 (Euronews) – Exclusive: The number of forest fires in the EU has trebled so far this year, according to figures obtained by Euronews, affecting an area nearly the size of Luxembourg. There have been 677 blazes in 2017 – a huge increase on the 215 the bloc saw annually […]

Officials resort to artificial rain to tackle raging wildfires in Siberia

24 July 2017 (The Siberian Times) – Fires have wreaked havoc this summer, with Yakutia and the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous the latest to be hard hit. Clouds are being spiked with a special compound over remote areas of Yakutia to force rain in forest infernos. The skies are cannoned from An-26 planes with silver iodide or […]

British Columbia wildfire season worst since 1958

4 August 2017 (Global News) – B.C. remains under a state of emergency as 123 wildfires continue to burn across the province. This season is now B.C.’s worst fire season in almost six decades and officials say it will only get worse. Just over 7,000 British Columbians remain out of their homes.The provincial state of […]

New evacuation orders in Canada wildfires, but not everyone leaves home – B.C. Wildfire Service urges locals to head for safety, saying “areas are evacuated for good reason”

By Rhianna Schmunk 30 July 2017 (CBC News) – Hundreds of people in B.C.’s southern Cariboo region were under a wildfire evacuation order on Saturday night, but not everyone chose to leave town — something fire officials called “concerning.”The village of Clinton, which has a population of about 650, was told to evacuate due to […]

Smoke from Canada forest fires chokes Washington State, air quality worst in the nation – “We’ve never seen numbers like this across the board”

  4 August 2017 (Washington Department of Ecology) – Air monitors around Washington state are lighting up the maps like a Christmas tree – and red lights aren’t good. Almost every community in the state has been hit hard by smoke blowing in from British Columbia wildfires. You can see it, you can almost reach […]

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