fire is good actually, and a lot of plant species rely on it for reproduction. its dangerous to people and property is because of the decades of fire suppression that allowed fuel to build up to dangerous levels, climate change making it hotter and drier in the summer, and people completely neglecting wildfire safety in planning their communities with lots of residential areas having dense fire promoting plants growing right up to the structures. really they should be purposefully burning the forests in the cold/wet seasons when the fire would be much less intense and can be better controlled. that way there wouldn't be enough fuel in the hot dry times for the fires to be dangerous. this is complicated in a lot of canada because of the peatlands and how they've been impacted by climate change, but suffice to say its a nuanced issue.
there is decades of research and advocacy behind this position but sadly governments are often extremely slow to change, and are often incredibly ignorant of current research. people try but you get a bunch of nimbys raising a big stink and stopping anyone from doing a prescribed burn when it would be safe, just to get big dangerous fires that kill people starting at the worst times. i worked as a wildland firefighter for a while and there were several fires that i worked on that we could have just let burn with zero intervention at no risk to anyone, but we put it out anyway for political reasons. its really frustrating because we know how to make wildfires safer we just cant get out of our own way enough to do it. its kind of a microcosm of our mistakes with climate change, where we just sit on our collective hands and dont do anything about it, or at least not nearly enough, until its a serious immediate problem.
So a lot of these forest management practices are good in some locations, but they don't take into account how insanely huge Canada is. Canada has more forest area than most countries have landmass. And a lot of it is completely wild. Usually, there are fires that they just let burn, because they are threatening anything. The problem in the last few years is that hotter, drier spring and summers is leading to more and bigger fires, generating this crazy smoke cover.
Fortunately, I enjoy the warm weather we're getting in the Pacific Northwest in the US yesterday and today. I love wearing shorts and skirts and sandals. But it's been so dry all spring and summer so far, I know it means wildfires and the resulting smoke are probably going to be an issue later this summer...not looking forward to that.
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fire is good actually, and a lot of plant species rely on it for reproduction. its dangerous to people and property is because of the decades of fire suppression that allowed fuel to build up to dangerous levels, climate change making it hotter and drier in the summer, and people completely neglecting wildfire safety in planning their communities with lots of residential areas having dense fire promoting plants growing right up to the structures. really they should be purposefully burning the forests in the cold/wet seasons when the fire would be much less intense and can be better controlled. that way there wouldn't be enough fuel in the hot dry times for the fires to be dangerous. this is complicated in a lot of canada because of the peatlands and how they've been impacted by climate change, but suffice to say its a nuanced issue.
there is decades of research and advocacy behind this position but sadly governments are often extremely slow to change, and are often incredibly ignorant of current research. people try but you get a bunch of nimbys raising a big stink and stopping anyone from doing a prescribed burn when it would be safe, just to get big dangerous fires that kill people starting at the worst times. i worked as a wildland firefighter for a while and there were several fires that i worked on that we could have just let burn with zero intervention at no risk to anyone, but we put it out anyway for political reasons. its really frustrating because we know how to make wildfires safer we just cant get out of our own way enough to do it. its kind of a microcosm of our mistakes with climate change, where we just sit on our collective hands and dont do anything about it, or at least not nearly enough, until its a serious immediate problem.
So a lot of these forest management practices are good in some locations, but they don't take into account how insanely huge Canada is. Canada has more forest area than most countries have landmass. And a lot of it is completely wild. Usually, there are fires that they just let burn, because they are threatening anything. The problem in the last few years is that hotter, drier spring and summers is leading to more and bigger fires, generating this crazy smoke cover.
Noooooooo that always makes me so sad 😭
Stay safe out there girl, idk what we'd do in this community if you were gone ❤️❤️
Not looking forward to the fires here, last time it stopped about 40 miles from my home
soon here too, i think
https://www.windy.com/-Menu/menu?cams,aqi,59.634,-106.803,5,p:wind
D:
yikes, stay safe! 😥
Fortunately, I enjoy the warm weather we're getting in the Pacific Northwest in the US yesterday and today. I love wearing shorts and skirts and sandals. But it's been so dry all spring and summer so far, I know it means wildfires and the resulting smoke are probably going to be an issue later this summer...not looking forward to that.