Wildfires

Wildfires - Arizona, USA

More than 1100 people remain evacuated from their homes in the US state of Arizona as firefighters determine if a containment line will hold up in windy conditions. Crews successfully dug a containment line overnight around the brush fire in the city of Scottsdale which has burned 10 square kilometres and threatened about 100 homes. The blaze broke out on Tuesday afternoon local time and quickly grew, fuelled by grass and brush. One secondary structure has been destroyed by the fire, but no injuries have been reported.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Canada

Montreal air quality presently ranks worst in the world as officials urge people to stay indoors. Thick, smoky air blanketed many parts of Quebec on Sunday as more than 110 wildfires raging in the northern parts of the province set more communities on high alert for new evacuation orders. Environment Canada issued smog warnings for wide swaths of the north, south and west of the province, including Montreal, Quebec, Laval, Longueuil and Trois-Rivières.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Canada

Officials in northwestern Quebec have ordered residents of two villages near the Ontario border to leave their homes as a wildfire continues to spread in the area. Residents of the villages of Val-Paradis and Beaucanton, home to around 340 people, were given an hour and a half to evacuate on Friday night due to the approach of a nearby fire. Since Thursday, more than 6,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes in northwestern Quebec due to heavy smoke from the fires. There are more than 110 fires burning in the province and 25 are considered out of control.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Ontario, Canada

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry fire crews continue to battle three stubborn wildfires north of Massey while the restricted fire zone remains in place across the entire province

The largest of those fires, Sudbury 17, was confirmed June 4 and continues to burn 5,857 hectare of forest three kilometres west of Madawanson Lake and 0.5 kilometres east of Pilot Lake. Multiple crews are committed to the fire, which is not under control.

Sudbury 10 was confirmed on June 2. Measuring 1,370 hectares and located three kilometres west of Fox Lake and five kilometres east of Acheson Lake, it is also not under control.

The third fire, Sudbury 19, was confirmed on June 4. It is a 459-hectare wildland fire located south of Shakwa Lake and a kilometre west of Lower Shakwa Lake. It is under control.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Pine Bark Beetle

We are learning more about what is fuelling record-breaking Canadian wildfires. Dry conditions amplified by a lack of normal snowpack and spring rainfall left millions of acres susceptible to fire across the country, but it is a small pest that is also to blame. Pine bark beetle infestations in forests have left dead trees and combustible residue on the ground.

Wildfires

Wildfires - North Carolina, USA

An ongoing wildfire at the Green Swamp Game Land in Supply is causing smoke, road closures and air quality issues in the area. As of Monday, June 19, the wildfire’s estimated size is 614 acres to 15,642 acres with containment at 52 percent. The Forest Service says that the acreage has decreased because of more accurate measurement data from the field. Firefighters are continuing mop-up operations along the fire perimeter, mitigating snags, extinguishing smoldering pockets and monitoring for spot fires.

Wildfires

Wildfires - North Carolina, USA

The Pulp Road Fire in Brunswick County reached 3,500 acres today and was still at zero percent containment. The 15,000-acre preserve where it’s burning crosses Brunswick and Columbus counties and is designated a National Natural Landmark.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Washington State, USA

Gusting winds Tuesday afternoon fanned the flames of two wildfires in rural Benton County. Extra Washington state fire crews headed to the blaze that had blackened nearly 1,000 acres south of Finley. Meanwhile, another fire was burning along McBee Grade south of Interstate 82 near Benton City. The fires started within an hour of each other Tuesday afternoon.

Wildfires and Climate Change Transform Canada

Climate change and fires are transforming some of Canada's boreal forests into savannahs.

Experts point out that fires are a crucial and natural aspect of a forest's life cycle; they have allowed Canada's boreal forest to flourish over millennia. But there is also evidence that fires are becoming larger and more intense, changing what grows back after the flames go out.

Where the first fire burned a very large, mature pine stand and it was regrowing back as pine with a little bit of aspen mixed in. Then a second fire killed all those seedlings and suddenly it's basically a grassland with a few scattered aspen trees.

Where black spruce dominated most sites before a fire, they tended to lose dominance in its aftermath. In more extreme cases, areas filled with black spruce failed to regenerate at all.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Canada

The Canadian wildfires are the largest in the country's history. They have burned over 10 million hectares of land and destroyed over 10,000 homes. Of the more than 400 fires burning in Canada, more than one-third are in Quebec, which has little experience with so many and such large wildfires.

The smoke from the hundreds of wildfires, which has already blanketed parts of the US and placed around 75 million people under air quality alerts, has reached as far as Norway, according to scientists in that country.People in Norway may be able to smell and even notice the smoke as a light haze but there should be no health impacts due to the smoke being very diluted. Over the coming days, the plume is expected to spread across swaths of Europe but it’s unlikely people will be able to smell or notice the smoke.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Canada

A plume of Canadian wildfire smoke rapidly darkened the skies over New York City and around the Northeast on Wednesday, making the air dangerous to breathe and disrupting life across the region.

By afternoon, Midtown Manhattan was plunged into a deep hazy orange and smoky clouds obscured visibility across the five boroughs and the region, canceling some flights. Earlier in the day, commuters donned masks used amid the Covid-19 pandemic while walking the streets, children stayed indoors at recess, some schools closed and officials warned people against going outside.

Wildfires - Australia

An estimated 60 billion bugs were lost during the Black Summer bushfires in Australian rainforests and it’s having a major impact on the health of the ecosystem.

Scientists from La Trobe University studied 52 sites in East Gippsland in Victoria and southern NSW that were severely impacted by bushfires in 2019-2020. About 75 per cent of invertebrates visible to the naked eye had disappeared entirely a year after the natural disaster. Rainforests make up just one per cent of all forests in Australia and lead author Professor Heloise Gibb fears up to 120 trillion invertebrates could have been lost across the country.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Germany

In Germany, the Harz Mountain Fire has forced tourist evacuations; the fire reportedly started at the Königsberg peak in northern Germany on Sundayl Another fire was ignited in the eastern state of Brandenburg on Wednesday and it is still growing. Deutsche Welle reported that near the town of Wernigerode in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, a fire in the Harz mountains had been contained. About 100 people were evacuated from the Brocken peak, the highest point in northern Germany and a popular attraction famed for its literary connections.

Weeks of dry weather have increased the risk of wildfires in eastern Germany, with some regions on the second-highest alert level. A fire near Jueterbog, south of Berlin, was burning for days as authorities scrambled to keep it from reaching surrounding villages.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Nova Scotia, Canada

A second wildfire broke out in Nova Scotia near the largest wildfire in the province’s history. Evacuations are still in place and a bridge collapsed. However, rain across the area is expected to assist efforts to control the blazes.

Wildfires - Michigan, USA

A wildfire in Northern Michigan burned through 3,600 acres, forcing evacuations and prompting the closure of a nearby highway Saturday, officials said. The blaze, centered in Grayling Township about 50 miles from Traverse City, is spreading west and southwest and threatening multiple buildings. The fire is burning as Michigan sees “unprecedented” hot and dry conditions for this time of year, setting the stage extreme fire danger.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Quebec, Canada

Some 10,000 coastal Quebec residents have been forced to evacuate homes as wildfires engulf more Canadian provinces, in what is emerging as one of the worst starts to the forest fire season. The mayor of Sept-Iles, declared a local state of emergency on Friday, as wildfire risk led to evacuation orders in the region.

Some 30,000 people across Canada are displaced due to forest fires burning in nearly all provinces. More than 2.7 million hectares have been scorched so far this year across the country.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Nova Scotia

As of June 1, 2023, the wildfires in Nova Scotia are still burning and have forced over 18,000 people to evacuate their homes. The fires have destroyed over 200 structures, the majority of which are homes. No fatalities have been recorded. The fires are burning in several areas of the province, including Halifax, Shelburne, and Lunenburg counties. The fires are being caused by a combination of factors, including dry conditions, high winds, and human activity.

Wildfire season worldwide now starting earlier, lasting longer due to global warming

The wildfire season, typically from June to September at its peak, is starting earlier and lasting longer due to global warming across the world, as tree cover losses from wildfires have almost doubled since 2001.

Forests are acting as a net carbon sink for the world, with an absorption rate of about 7.6 billion metric tons of carbon emissions per year, 1.5 times the annual emissions of the US. To conserve the world's natural carbon sinks, the loss of forests needs to be minimized, as they are critical to tackling climate change. However, wildfires brought on by climate change are causing more tree coverage reductions.

Global Forest Watch statistics show that between 2001 and 2021, there were 318 million hectares worth of losses to the world's forest cover, of which 119 million hectares were attributable to fires. Russia, Canada and the US are the top three countries with the highest tree cover loss due to fires from 2001 to 2021.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Nova Scotia

A number homes were engulfed in flames as a N.S. wildfire was rapidly moving through a section of the Halifax suburb of Tantallon and towards neighboring Hammonds Plains. At 5:15 p.m. Sunday, an Emergency Alert was issued by the province about an evacuation order for the Westwood Hills subdivision due to “ongoing multiple structure and forest fires.” There are reports that the number of homes on fire is in double digits. A Halifax regional fire spokesperson couldn’t give an exact number to how many houses are on fire, but did say there are no reported injuries at this time.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Israel

Forestry teams and Israel's Fire and Rescue Services fought at least 176 separate forest fires across Israel on Saturday, amid a severe heatwave felt throughout the country.

In the north of the country alone, 53 fires had to be put out on Saturday. The coastal area saw 32 fires, the greater Jerusalem area 28, the south 24, the central region 22, while the West Bank suffered 14 blazes throughout the day.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Alberta, Canada

Wildfires which continue to rage in Alberta and British Columbia have created a sense of panic and fear, and forced thousands of residents to evacuate from their homes. As of today, May 20, 2023, there are 100 active wildfires burning in Alberta. 25 of these fires are out of control. The wildfires have forced the evacuation of over 20,000 people and have destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and businesses. The fires are also having a significant impact on the environment, with smoke from the fires blanketing much of Alberta and parts of the United States. The wildfires are being fuelled by hot, dry weather and strong winds. The weather is expected to remain hot and dry in the coming days, which could lead to further growth of the wildfires. Oil production of about 245 000 barrels a day has been shut down as the flames approached.

Wildfires - Spain

Emergency crews evacuated around 600 villagers in western Spain overnight as a wildfire blamed on arsonists ravaged up to 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) near the border with Portugal, officials said. Strong winds were making it harder to control the blaze in the densely forested areas of Las Hurdes and Sierra de Gata in the Extremadura region, emergency services said on Friday. An unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe coming after three years of below-average rainfall in Spain has raised the risk of wildfires.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Alberta, Canada (Update)

As of today, May 14, 2023, there are 83 active wildfires burning in Alberta. 21 of these fires are out of control. The wildfires have forced the evacuation of over 16,500 people and have destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and businesses. The fires are also having a significant impact on the environment, with smoke from the fires blanketing much of Alberta and parts of the United States.

The wildfires are being fueled by hot, dry weather and strong winds. The weather is expected to remain hot and dry in the coming days, which could lead to further growth of the wildfires.

Wildfires

Australian Bushfires May Have Caused Triple La Niña

Smoke from Australia’s 2019-20 black summer fires may have resulted in the rare “triple dip” La Niña that lasted from 2020 to 2022, research suggests.

Modelling from scientists at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research has found that smoke aerosols from the bushfires interacted with clouds to cool surface waters over the south-eastern subtropical Pacific Ocean. This created favourable conditions for a La Niña to form, the researchers believe.

Smoke particles resulted in smaller cloud droplets over the southern hemisphere. That makes them brighter, and it also makes them live longer [because they are less likely to rain out of the atmosphere]. The net effect of that is more sunlight gets reflected back to space.

The result was a phenomenon akin to what’s known as June gloom in the US, where you have very cold ocean conditions but very warm atmospheric conditions above this cloud layer – that’s referred to as an inversion.

Winds carried these anomalous conditions into the deep tropics, and that instigated the feedbacks that are commonly associated with La Niña. The winds became stronger as a consequence of the surface cooling off, and then the flow going into the tropics was also drier, because a cold surface means you have less humidity in the atmosphere.

Because of that, the whole band of precipitation that usually exists in the tropics move northwards, and that’s a critical component for getting a La Niña.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Alberta, Canada

Nearly 30,000 people have been asked to evacuate their homes under siege of dozens of wildfires across the western Canadian province; officials declared a state of emergency on Saturday with more than 110 active wildfires. More than 50 schools were closed on Monday morning, affecting over 50 000 pupils. About 964,000 acres have burnt since wildfires began over a week ago. In northern Alberta, more than 80 homes were destroyed in rural areas including Fox Lake, John D’Or Prairie, and Garden River, and more than 3,700 residents in that area were evacuated.

Wildfires - Russia

The death toll rose to 21 on Tuesday (9 May) in a series of fires raging in Russia’s Urals region some resulting from suspected arson, and medical officials warned the tally was likely to increase, state news agency TASS said.

The emergencies ministry in Kurgan region near the border with Kazakhstan said 46 suspects had been identified and seven criminal cases had been initiated against alleged arsonists. Some of the suspects were minors, it said. The motives of the suspected arsonists were not clear.

Wildfires have long plagued Russia’s forests and steppes during hotter months, but have grown in intensity in recent years. The 2021 fire season was Russia's largest ever, with 18.8 million hectares of forest destroyed, according to Greenpeace Russia. Last year, wildfire smoke blew hundreds of miles to Moscow, choking city residents.

Fires began in late April in the Kurgan and neighboring Tyumen regions. Evacuations of residents are underway and hundreds of homes have been razed, officials said.