I’m up in northern Ontario near Sudbury … and I’ve been driving around Timmins and Cochrane for the past few weeks. The forests don’t have enough moisture … we didn’t get enough snow last year … even my friends and relatives up north on James Bay are reporting a lot less water than years before. No one noticed that none of the James Bay communities reported emergency evacuations for anticipated floods this past spring like they normally do. There was about half the amount of snow here than last year.
It all means that the spring run off was a lot less than in previous years … which means that our forests are already drying out and it isn’t even warm or hot yet. As soon as that heat arrives, our forests are going to turn into tinder fire starter. Normally, we should have so much spring run off from our annual supply of snow and ice that it would keep our forests saturated long enough for them survive the summer heat and make it less possible for forest fires. Without that snow, we’re doomed up here.
Take in a deep breath of fresh air everyone … I hate to say it but I’m really worried that the whole north - everything north of North Bay, Sudbury and Thunder Bay - is going to go up in flames this summer. It won’t be good for us in the north and it won’t spare the south either because it will send clouds of smoke over the entire province.
Many started because forest fires can survive winter by burning slowly underground through root systems. Combined with the lack of snowpack this year, the melting snow didn’t extinguish them – leading to a record number of fires earlier than ever recorded before.
You can also order HEPA filters for those furnaces that filter smoke well. And if you have enough of those filters, you can tape one to the front of a box fan for a makeshift air purifier.
You do kind of see that sentiment out west, yes. Not exactly the way you're wording it, but we do make similar comments in appreciation of mild fire seasons. That's just the way it goes when you live with wildfire every year.
Well when one season the sky turns orange and no one can breath then the next season the skies are clear and blue I can get why people would say one wildfire season is better than another
I’m adding #AxeTheTax to all the natural disaster posts I can find. :)
Only when people start to associate increasingly destructive ‘natural’ disasters with emissions, will they understand that carbon taxes are a big part of the solution.
I was going to make a funny fake headline about this, but I’m worried that someone out there would take it seriously and there’s already enough of that crap out there.
Add comment