# Canadian wildfires -- here we go again **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463 "2024-05-12T21:33:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/21 "2024-05-15T19:09:52Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Are you freaking kidding me?!!! 😳 My initial reaction too. > [@](#): > > Now, wait a minute. First of all, fires need oxygen, so why doesn’t the snow cover simply suffocate the fire?! Also, the heat of the fire must melt the snow above it, so why doesn’t the water from the melting snow act as nature’s “sprinkler system” and wash out the fire?! Fires can smoulder for a long time with very little oxygen. The peat insulates it and absorbs the snow melt. Without heavy rains those fires can burn a long time. [It could be worse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania#Mine_fire). ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/22 "2024-05-15T19:13:03Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > so why doesn’t the snow cover simply suffocate the fire?! Snow is actually full of air spaces, usually, unless it’s been really compacted. When we were kids, we’d sometimes bury each other in the snow, and it was no harder to breathe than being under a blanket. As for the melting, the water doesn’t come down uniformly. There will be dry spots, like in any rainy situation, and that’s enough to keep things smoldering. Also, snow cover is just weird. > **[The Subnivean Zone: Shelter in the Snow | The Outside Story](https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/subnivean-shelter-snow)** > > Every animal must develop its own way of dealing with winter. Migrate, hibernate, or insulate; these are common strategies. For a few small… This content is a ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/23 "2024-05-15T19:17:23Z")
So, that underground fire raged for 20 years or more and pretty much ate the entire town? I agree, that qualifies as “worse”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/24 "2024-05-15T19:47:14Z")
Current predictions estimate it will burn for the next 250 years. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/25 "2024-05-15T23:28:51Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > not too long ago I read [Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61966364-fire-weather?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=NF41W2R2ob&rank=1) and I recommend it to anyone who doesn’t understand how different fire is from what it was not that long ago. Thanks for the tip! Just put it on hold at my local library. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/26 "2024-05-16T02:11:37Z")
and Fort McMurray is being evacuated again. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/27 "2024-05-16T11:37:36Z")
All they have is a Kindle version of the book? I don’t have a Kindle device. The library sounds like a good idea, and I need something to read during my 3-week summer break. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/28 "2024-05-16T12:21:14Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Just put it on hold at my local library. aren’t libraries wonderful? this might go without saying, but you might want to get something light-hearted to read as well. I found Fire Weather very interesting but…well, it’s not fun. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/29 "2024-05-16T21:08:49Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > and Fort McMurray is being evacuated again. Damn. Those poor people. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/30 "2024-05-16T21:12:24Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > All they have is a Kindle version of the book? I don’t have a Kindle device. Got it in [paperback as well as hardcover at Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Weather-Story-Hotter-World/dp/1399720201). Pricey, though, even more than Kindle. I’m getting the hardcover from my library since there are illustrations. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/31 "2024-05-17T11:55:32Z")
Thanks! Just ordered it in paperback version. I’ll read it when I go on summer break. Perfect timing! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/32 "2024-05-17T16:09:11Z")
Excellent! I’ll be picking up the book at the library this afternoon. Meanwhile, [ABC has this May 15 update](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wildfire-smoke-impact-us-canada-braces-fiery-summer/story?id=110214802) on the wildfires, and it is depressingly grim. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/33 "2024-05-17T17:02:53Z")
My God, and to think that all these fires are releasing even more CO2 into the atmosphere. I hold little hope in our future. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/34 "2024-05-17T20:10:07Z")
I knew that last year, the wildfires released more CO2 into the atmosphere than Canada’s non-fire anthropogenic releases. What I didn’t take into consideration at the time was that Canada is a top 10 GHG producer in its own right, so if you list the top 10 GHG sources of 2024, you’d have something like China, USA, Australia, Canada, Canadian wildfires, etc. Since China and USA are so huge by themselves, the overall contribution is not that high, percentage-wise, but it’s a definite move in the wrong direction. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/35 "2024-05-17T20:18:23Z")
That’s nothing; [Burning Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Mountain) in Australia hosts a coal fire that has been burning for over 6000 years. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/36 "2024-05-17T20:20:03Z")
Has anyone suggested that Canadians give their forests a thorough raking? I hear that helps. On a serious note, I dread the smoke season here. It used to be occasional but now it appears to be almost every year. I’ve had to modify vacation plans multiple times due to fires and smoke (backpacking and camping trips) and it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/37 "2024-05-17T21:15:52Z")
One topic being discussed here in the western US is how forest management practices have contributed to making fires in this region more intense with the input from climate change. The whole fire suppression strategy for the last 100 years has resulted in unhealthy, dense, and un-natural forests that when dried-out from a few years of climate change-caused drought, are burning much more ferociously and destructively than they may have in times past. Is this theory being applied with these Canadian fires as well - are those northern forests unhealthy as a result of human activity and management? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2024, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/38 "2024-05-18T02:48:05Z")
Rain and cooler temps may help at Fort McMurray: > **[Fort McMurray wildfire behaviour expected to be ‘subdued’ with cooler...](https://globalnews.ca/news/10502966/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-update-may-17-2024/)** > > Alberta Wildfire officials said the Fort McMurray wildfire remained the same size Friday morning as it was on Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2024, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/39 "2024-05-18T03:51:22Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Is this theory being applied with these Canadian fires as well - are those northern forests unhealthy as a result of human activity and management In my previous post I was making fun of a former administrators explanation of forest management, but I can guarantee that the National Forests in my area need management! There are areas with so much dead downfall and underbrush that they will be raging fires when it gets there. Good logging practices are not happening and the lumber mills are shutting down because of this. > **[Timber industry warns Plummer mill closure has grave implications](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/may/06/timber-industry-warns-plummer-mill-closure-has-gra/)** > > A North Idaho lumber mill will close this summer as timber companies face strains from tight operating margins. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463/40 "2024-05-20T11:56:29Z")
My book arrived and, although I only gave it a cursory once over, I am very impressed. The work is 356 pages long and has dozens of pages of cites and notes. It appears to be a very serious work. When I’m back from my break in the middle of July, I’ll post a critique in the Cafe section. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-wildfires-here-we-go-again/1001463.md?page=3)